Nostalgic Photos From The 60s, 70s and 80s Reveal When Music Festivals Were FREE, Easy And A Lot Edgier

Nowadays, you can get a hot shower, live in a luxury hut with power sockets and even enjoy a manicure - but in the early day, festivals involved little more than a basic tent in a field. And a fascinating series of photographs has revealed the origins of the country's festival culture in simpler times when gatherings like the Isle of Wight Festival and Windsor Free Festival were mostly populated by hippies. Nostalgic pictures showcased in a new book by Sam Knee show people enjoying themselves at Reading in 1973, Glastonbury in 1981 and on the Isle of Wight in 1970 - three festivals that are still going strong today. The free festivals that emerged through the Seventies in Britain and have since spread across the world became associated with activism movements such as anti-globalisation and campaigning against nuclear weapons. Click NEXT to see more... They were mostly unnoticed by the mainstream public at the time and it is only in recent decades that the likes of Glastonbury have become commercialized - with a high-security presence and identity checks on tickets. Glastonbury was also famous for revelers scaling the fences - with 80,000 people getting on site without a ticket in 1995. The same happened again in 2000 when less than half of the 250,000 revelers had gone with a ticket. Other interesting images in the new book by Mr. Knee show The Clash on stage at Rock Against Racism in 1978 and Phil May of the Pretty Things in full flight at the Hyde Park Free Festival in 1968. Also shown in the book - Memory of a Free Festival - is Arthur Brown at Windsor in 1967 after being lowered from a crane into the audience wearing a flaming headpiece and painted mask. Writing in the book's introduction, Mr. Knee said: 'With roots deeply embedded in British folk history, music festivals were at the heart of counter-cultural movements from the Sixties to the Eighties.' 'The free festivals were microcosms of society; overnight cities of tents and polyethene shacks – a new Jerusalem taking up temporary residence on England's green and pleasant land. 'They were sites of multicultural music worship, where fellow fans and youth tribes congregated and intermingled, living off the land, sharing possessions, food, drugs and ideals; connecting with the past, catching glimpses of a feasible future, united in the service of pleasure under the open sky.' Mr. Knee believes the festivals were part of an effort to overcome the various social problems that afflicted the country at that time. 'The apparent frivolity of music festivals is deceptive; it often masked deeper issues around unemployment, racial prejudice, and nuclear threat,' he said. 'The festivals were a sometimes naïve but generally earnest attempt at forming bridges to overcome social issues within broader society. 'Although they were largely peaceable compared to, say, sporting events, they were much less socially acceptable. 'The media regularly portrayed the festivals as sordid and filthy, distorting isolated events of discord into an image of rampaging hippie terror, filling the hearts of little Englanders with fear and discomfort.' Mr. Knee feels there are lessons to be learned from the music festivals of the past and they could provide an inspiration to today's youth. 'In the turbulent times we're living through today, it's important to appreciate how previous generations coped and remained creative throughout political turmoil and state oppression,' he added. 'The legacy of the festivals of yore should be an inspiration for today's youth to stand up and fight back through peaceful protest, creating a brighter future, reclaiming the counterculture once more.' Over the past five decades, Glastonbury's Pyramid stage has become known as one of the world's most famous music stages. It was first built in 1971 from scaffolding, expanded metal and plastic sheeting. A permanent stage doubling as a cowshed and animal food store in the winter was then constructed in 1981, before this burnt down shortly before the festival in 1994. The third and present stage was then built in 2000. The first Glastonbury festival in 1970 cost just £1 to attend with an attendance of 1,500 - while this year's event was attended by 150,000 fans with tickets at £243 each. The Isle of Wight Festival is Britain's first major summer music festival each year, and was first started between 1968 and 1970 - but there was no event again until 2002 when it was re-launched by promoter John Giddings. Tell us what we missed in the comment section below! AND, If you LIKE this story, please SHARE this story with your Facebook friends and your family! Source: Daily Mail Related: The Mamas and Papas, Jefferson Airplane And The Steve Miller Band Reunite For This Anniversary Incredible Memories Of Motown In The 1960s