Festival Express - The Festival

The Festival

Festival Express was staged in three Canadian cities: Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary, during the summer of 1970. Rather than flying in to each city, the musicians traveled by chartered Canadian National Railways train, in a total of 14 cars (two engines, one diner, five sleepers, two lounge cars, two flat cars, one baggage car, and one staff car). The train journey between cities ultimately became a combination of non-stop jam sessions and partying which was fueled by alcohol. One highlight of the documentary is a drunken jam session featuring The Band's Rick Danko, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, New Riders of the Purple Sage's John Dawson, as well as Janis Joplin.

The event, initially billed as the Transcontinental Pop Festival, was being promoted by Eaton-Walker Associates (consisting of Thor Eaton, George Eaton, and Ken Walker) and the Industrial and Trade Shows of Canada (ITS) division of MacLean-Hunter Publishing Company and was to encompass the following cities:

The Montreal event was cancelled a few weeks before the scheduled date by Lucien Saulnier, chairman of the City of Montreal Executive Committee (and acting under authority of mayor Jean Drapeau), because it clashed with St. Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24) celebrations and there were concerns about a diluted security force and the potential for violence. Buses were run from Montreal to the Toronto Festival Express stop and Montreal tickets were honored in Toronto. The Vancouver venue, Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Empire Stadium, could not be secured as they were scheduled to have artificial turf (Tartan Turf) installed shortly before the scheduled event, and there was concern about damage to the turf. In March, 1970, ITS requested use of an alternate venue, Capilano Stadium, for the event, but this was denied by the Vancouver City Council over several concerns, including inadequate sanitary and food facilities, challenges with policing the event, and vagrancy. Therefore, Vancouver was dropped from the tour, and Calgary was subsequently added. The event in Calgary was initially to be held in an open field, Paskapoo Ski Hill (to later become Canada Olympic Park), but the city requested it be held at McMahon Stadium instead, as it would permit better organization and security.

The tour ultimately began in Toronto at the CNE Grandstand, which was plagued with about 2500 protestors who objected to what they viewed as exploitation by price-gouging promoters. The opposition was organized by the May 4th Movement (M4M), the left-rebel group that grew out of the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings. They attempted to crash the gates and scale the barbed wire fence and clashed with police, resulting in several injuries. To help calm the crowd, Metro Police Inspector Walter Magahay tried to get the promoter, Ken Walker, to lower ticket prices, but he refused. Subsequently, Jerry Garcia, in conjunction with Magahay, was instrumental in calming the unruly crowd by arranging a spontaneous free "rehearsal" concert in nearby Coronation Park upon a flatbed truck, while the scheduled show continued at the stadium. Once the free concert, which began at about 7:00pm on June 27, was announced, most of the ticketless fans dispersed to Coronation Park, with an initial attendance of about 6,000, thereby resolving the protest. Once the show at the CNE Grandstand ended at 12:30am, another 6,000 fans went to the park for the remainder of the free concert, which lasted until about 4:00am on June 28. Playing at Coronation Park were The Grateful Dead, Ian & Sylvia and the Great Speckled Bird, James and the Good Brothers, the New Riders of the Purple Sage (all from the original scheduled concert). Other local Toronto bands also played, including January, The People's Revolutionary Concert Band, Si Potma and P.M. Howard (of Beatlemania fame). There are some reports indicating a free concert was also performed on the second day, albeit to a much smaller crowd of about 500, as many of the protesters paid admission to the event on the second day. Many people spent the night and following day sleeping in the park until the second show at CNE Grandstand ended at 12:30am on June 29.

On the way to Winnipeg, the second stop on the tour, the train stopped in Chapleau, Ontario, to replenish its dwindling alcohol supply, buying out the entire stock of a small liquor store. The Winnipeg show had only a modest turnout of 4,600, partly due to fears about crowd violence based on the events in Toronto and partly due to the Manitoba Centennial appearance by Prime Minister Trudeau. The event was not plagued with protest or any appreciable violence, however.

In Calgary, the third and final stop, the police wished to avoid the protests that were witnessed in Toronto and their presence seemed to subdue the crowds outside the stadium, though there were many complaints about the ticket prices. It was estimated that about 1000 people managed to sneak in on Saturday by climbing fences (a few rushed the gates) early in the day, but security was tightened and on Saturday afternoon and Sunday fewer people had sneaked in for free. However, there was a heated altercation between promoter Ken Walker and Calgary mayor Rod Sykes after Sykes strongly suggested to Walker on Sunday afternoon that he open the gates and let the kids in for free after the show was well underway. Walker, who was livid about the mayor's intrusion and his reference to Walker as "Eastern scum" "trying to skim" the young people of Calgary, claimed to have punched the mayor in the mouth, and boasted that he still had a scar on his hand to prove it.

The tour had an original budget of about $900,000 (of which $500,000 was for musical talent), but largely due to less than predicted turnout, gross receipts were just over $500,000 and the project ultimately lost between $350,000 and $500,000 for the promoters. Although the tour was a financial failure, the tour featured now-legendary performances by the Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, and Buddy Guy, among others. The Dead were just transforming their sound from dense, jammed psychedelia to the country/folk harmonies of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty; the Band's performance showed them at the pinnacle of their powers; for Janis Joplin, it would turn out to be some of her last performances, as she died about three months later. In the film, musician Kenny Gradney, who performed with Delaney & Bonnie, commented on the atmosphere during the tour, "It was better than Woodstock, as great as Woodstock was." Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead further said, "Woodstock was a treat for the audience, but the train was a treat for the performers."