Seattle Pop Festival held in Woodinville on July 25, 1969.

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On July 25, 1969, Boyd Grafmyre stages the Seattle Pop Festival, held at Gold Creek Park in Woodinville, northeast of Seattle. Over the next three days, 25 musicians and groups perform, including Chuck Berry, Black Snake, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Chicago Transit Authority, Albert Collins, Crome Syrcus, Bo Diddley, the Doors, Floating Bridge, The Flock, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Guess Who, It's A Beautiful Day, Led Zeppelin, Charles Loyd, Lonnie Mack, Lee Michaels, Rockin Fu, Murray Roman, Santana, Spirit, Ten Years After, Ike & Tina Turner, Vanilla Fudge, and the Youngbloods.

Tickets for the event went for $6 a day or $15 for all three. More than 50,000 rock fans attended over the three days. Since crowds were larger than expected, extra water and food had to be hauled in on Sunday. Sanitary facilities were inadequate, but every attempt was made to meet county requirements.

Nearby neighbors complained of traffic and the hippie atmosphere, but Chick Dawsey, owner of Gold Creek, noted that spectators were orderly with very few exceptions.

"I disagree with their movement 100 per cent," said Dawsey, "but some of us adults better get the hell closer to them. They respond very much to kindness, we older people better learn this -- If they need a drink of water we, the establishment, should go out and offer it."

Sources:
Walt Crowley, Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995), 268, 334; "Pop Festival Set for Gold Creek," East Side Journal, July 2, 1969, p. 10; "50,000 Drawn to Gold Creek Rock Festival," East Side Journal, July 30, 1969, p. 10.

By Alan J. Stein, June 06, 1999

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