Miami Rocks
The Miami Pop Festival, May 1968
May 18, 2018 - September 30, 2018
Did you know that Miami hosted the first East Coast rock festival? From May 18-19, 1968, the Miami Pop Festival took place at Gulfstream Park and featured legendary performers like Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Chuck Berry, and others. HistoryMiami Museum features this historic festival through an exhibition of rare photographs by Ken Davidoff, archival footage, and artifacts that illuminate the story of this groundbreaking event. Opening on the festival’s 50th anniversary, the exhibition highlights Miami in the late 1960s, organizers Ric O’Barry and Michael Lang (who later organized Woodstock), and the festival itself. It also includes the second Miami Pop Festival, which featured the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, and Fleetwood Mac. Come learn about a little-known, but seminal musical moment that Michael Lang described as “where the seeds of Woodstock were sown.”