Phun City was a rock festival held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing, England from July 24 to July 26, 1970. Excluding the one-day free concerts in London’s Hyde Park, Phun City became the first large-scale free festival in the UK. (More from Wikipedia)
The following year, Mick Farren organized his idea of what a rock festival should be. Called Phun City, it took place from July 24 to July 26, 1970. Unlike Woodstock and most other similar festivals, there were no admission fees and no fences. After the funding for the concert was withdrawn, the organizers had to notify the bands scheduled to appear that they would have to perform for free. Most of the bands agreed to go on anyway; ironically, one of the few bands that didn’t play was Free, best known for their 1970 hit “All Right Now”. Rock musicians who did perform included MC5, the Pretty Things, Kevin Ayers, Shagrat, the Edgar Broughton Band, Mungo Jerry, Mighty Baby, and the Pink Fairies; the Beat poet William Burroughs was also there.
