Which 1970 British festival is often cited as the largest rock concert ever held in the United Kingdom?

The 1970 British festival often cited as the country’s largest rock concert was the Isle of Wight Festival.

The event took place from August 26 to 30, 1970, at Afton Farm near Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. Its lineup included major performers such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Free, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Contemporary and later estimates put attendance at roughly 600,000 people, an extraordinary figure for the period. The crowd size was so large that the festival became a landmark in the history of British rock events.

The 1970 festival should not be confused with the smaller annual Isle of Wight Festival revived in the early 2000s. The modern event uses the same island association but belongs to a later festival era and has a different scale.