Festival

Director Murray Lerner makes this black and white documentary of the Folk Music at Newport from 1963 to 1966, entwining interviews with the audiences that highlight the importance of the folk music and performances of artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter,Paul and Mary, Donovan, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Cash.

"Festival" is a testimony of magic moments of the 60's that will never happen again. Who could imagine in the present days an artist like Bob Dylan asking for a harmonica to the audience to play Mr.Tambourine Man; or Peter, Paul and Mary in trouble with the microphones; or Peter Yarrow changing the tune of his guitar while singing with Joan Baez; or the artists so close to the audience. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Festival"

I spoke with Mr. Lerner in 74 and he said that as a Black & White movie, people wouldn't want to see it. At that time vcr's were not very popular and kcet was the only venue. He offered to let me see it at a showing but we hung up with out my giving him my number. I saw segments of festival on the peter, paul and mary documentary the other night. It reminded me how much I would love to see Festival at Newport 1967. I wonder if it is for sale, these days. This was a very valuble documentary with extrodinary montage effects. It was truly neat to see and I hope it makes a return one way or another.

Paul H. Borisoff

Sometimes Stunning Encapsulation of the Newport Jazz Festivals of 1963-1966.

The Opening Scene is a Cultural Cornerstone.

It's a Fixed Camera with Hordes of Young and Old Folks Entering the Festival Grounds and is a "Snapshot" in Time that would be Imitated in the Pop-Culture Movements of "Monterey Pop" (1967) and then "Woodstock" (1969).

And Virtually Every Documentary Featuring a Music or Concert "Festival".

It is a Bona-Fide Classic.

Considering the Film and Audio Available at the Time, the Images and the Sound are Impressive.

Also Impressive is the way Murray Lerner Cross-Cuts between Performances and Patrons to Create a Unique and Unforgettable "You-Are-There" Experience.

You get to See a Young and Relatively "New" Bob Dylan and Joan Baez in a Fair Amount of Footage.

The Infamous Dylan "Plugging-In" to Electric sent Shock Waves through the Folk Movement as He Delivers a Searing Rendition of "Maggie's Farm".

If one was to Fault the Film...There is a Mysterious and Lengthy Amount of Peter, Paul, and Mary and Judy Collins Footage.

Some other Performers such as Johnny Cash, Barely Registers 3 minutes.

But Overall it is a Good Cross-Section of Acts that Stretch to Include Mike Bloomfield, Son House, Gospel Singers, Folk-Dancing and More.

A Must See Event that is Essential for Music Lovers and Pop-Culture Historians.

It's the One that Started it All and Did So in Fantastic Fashion.

I saw this excellent film on television recently and was knocked out by a dance performance about halfway through. Four male-female pairs of dancers (The Blue Ridge Mountain Dancers) go through what I assume is traditional 19th-century (?) clog-dance figures to the music of a small acoustic band including Pete Seeger. The dancing is wonderfully rhythmic with lots of on-the-beat clog-stamping. It's wonderful to watch and listen to, and it looks great fun - the dancers and the musicians are consciously acting out some folk heritage, and pointing out the riches and the enjoyment to be found there ("Folks made their own entertainment then and I purely doubt that you and MTV can show me anything better!"). That's the Newport message, and these few minutes deliver it splendidly.

Fortunately, "Festival" is now available on DVD which I recently purchased. The performances (though incomplete), the interviews, and crowd shots make it a worthwhile 95 minutes of viewing. For me, it wasn't enough. I was yearning for more, more, and more. Here's why: There simply isn't much history available about the Newport Folk Festival and the folk music revival of the 60s except for excerpts here and there but never in complete document form. Many of the artists who appear in this film are long deceased, and with their departure, so is their body of work which in large part, is out of print and rare. The best known performers in the film (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary) are still active to this day yet it's fascinating and at times, amusing, to see them frolicking in some (until now) rare footage. I recommend it as a companion to the recent Bob Dylan "No Direction Home" DVD set just released this past summer.