The first festival took place on 26-27 August 1961, and the headline acts included Johnny Dankworth and Chris Barber.

By this time the jazz content was almost non-existent and the festival was featuring a mix of progressive rock, folk and blues and drawing crowds of around 30,000.

In 1971, the festival finally found a permanent home when Pendleton moved base to Reading.

Although George Melly and John McLaughlin did participate in these years, it was bands such as Hawkwind, Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher who drew the crowds.

[citation needed] By 1975, the festival attendance had swollen to 70,000 and there were nasty scenes where can fights became the norm and some reggae artists were received with hostility.