Bickershaw Festival 1972 -The Grateful Dead
Glastonbury and other rock festivals have had to be cancelled this year due to the Covid 19 situation, but how many of you are aware of Wigan’s very own rock Festival which took place in a boggy field in Bickershaw, on a wet weekend in May 1972?
It was labelled at the time the Wigan Woodstock, and was notable for the miserable weather and gallons of mud - impressive even by Glastonbury standards - the Bickershaw Festival was also notable for its quality line-up. Acts such as The Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart, Hawkwind and The Kinks were all a great attraction.
Film maker Frank Rigby records how thousands of music fans turned up in a field in Wigan for an experience it would be hard to forget.
Were you there, do you recognise yourself in the crowds?
Please share your memories.
Here’s a link to the live performance by grateful dead
Click on the link to watch Frank Rigby’s film of the event courtesy of BFI. Unfortunately there is no sound footage, but it clearly shows the fashions, the cars, and the prices of things 48 years ago in Wigan.
BBC Archives also released this footage ... can you spot the young Jeremy Beadle who organised it all ...
Here is another link to an excellent resource packed with information about the bands, photographs, and personal accounts of the weekend.
Notable for the miserable weather and gallons of mud - impressive even by Glastonbury standards - the Bickershaw Festival was also notable for its quality line-up.
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