Big Sur Folk Festival facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Big Sur Folk Festival |
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Poster for the initial festival
in 1964 by Bob Muson |
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| Genre | folk |
| Dates |
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| Location(s) | Big Sur and Monterey, California |
| Years active | 1965-1971 |
| Founded by | Nancy Carlen |
The Big Sur Folk Festival was a special music event held in California from 1964 to 1971. It was a laid-back gathering where famous and new folk artists from all over the United States came to perform. Nancy Carlen (1941-2013) started the festival. She was working at the Esalen Institute when singer Joan Baez was asked to lead music workshops. Nancy and Joan were good friends. They decided to invite other artists, and this idea grew into the very first festival.
Joan Baez performed at all seven Big Sur Folk Festivals. Many well-known musicians played there, including Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Kris Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Taj Mahal, Dorothy Morrison with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and Julie Payne. All the artists were paid a small amount, about $50. The audience paid between $3.50 and $5.50 to get in, depending on the year. All the money raised went to Joan Baez's Institute for the Study of Nonviolence.
Nancy Carlen wanted the festival to be a friendly and relaxed event. It was a place for artists to chill out after their busy summer concert tours. Most years, the festival was held right in front of the swimming pool at the Esalen Institute, located on the beautiful Big Sur coast. One year, it moved to the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Nancy kept advertising to a minimum on purpose. This helped keep the crowds smaller and the atmosphere cozy. The musicians Richard and Mimi Fariña performed together for the first time at the festival. This led to them getting a recording contract!
In September 1969, a documentary film called Celebration at Big Sur was made about the festival. Many performers in the film had also played at the famous Woodstock just a few weeks earlier. Some people later saw the Big Sur festival as the opposite of the big, commercial Woodstock event. However, the artists originally saw it as a nice change from the Newport Folk Festival.
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How the Festival Started
The Big Sur Folk Festival began in 1964, thanks to Nancy Carlen. She met Joan Baez while attending Boston University. At that time, Joan lived in Carmel Valley. Nancy was very impressed by Joan's music and her strong beliefs about social justice. In 1961, Nancy drove across the country and arrived in Big Sur. She got a job at the Esalen Institute and started living there.
Carlen wrote that the festival "started as a lark." The Esalen Institute offered them a chance to use their amazing place for a whole weekend. The idea was to have an "Esalen style seminar" about "The New Folk Music." Nancy invited Joan Baez to lead this workshop. Nancy had also met Richard and Mimi Fariña at a friend's house. She talked about ideas for the festival with Richard and invited both of them to perform. It was their very first professional show.
Well, any time you found Joan Baez, Richard and Mimi Fariña, and me in the same place there had to be singing, so instead of meetings and lectures, sing we did, in the sulphur baths, on the lawns, even during meals sitting at long wooden tables in the lodge. Sunday afternoon we invited the neighborhood in general to join us, turned the deck of the Esalen swimming pool into a stage, and sang to everyone.
Nancy Carlen invited other artists like Malvina Reynolds, Mark Spoelstra, Roger Abraham, and local musicians Janet Smith, and Richard and Mimi Fariña. Nancy Carlen also performed herself. She later said that she wanted the festival to be a "performers' festival." This meant it was a place where artists could enjoy some quiet time together after their busy summer tours.
The audience loved Mimi and Richard Fariña so much that three record companies offered them a recording contract. Richard already had a publishing deal with the big folk music company Vanguard. Also, Mimi's sister Joan had done very well with her contract at Vanguard. So, Mimi and Richard decided to sign with Vanguard too.
Later Concerts and Atmosphere
The festival was held every year from 1964 to 1969 at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. In 1970, it moved to the Monterey County Fairgrounds. It returned to Esalen for the very last concert in 1971.
As the seminar grew into full concerts, Nancy Carlen purposely kept the events small. She focused on "quality and atmosphere" rather than lots of publicity or making a lot of money. Even when famous artists like the Beach Boys or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were scheduled, Carlen kept the number of people attending to just a few thousand. She preferred crowds of less than 6,000, and ideally around 3,000. In 1971, she didn't pay for any advertising and didn't even issue tickets. Instead, she sent out invitations.
She paid performers a standard union rate, never more than $50 per person. The entry fee for the audience was $3.50 to $5.50, depending on the year. For security, she used members from Joan Baez's Institute for the Study of Nonviolence.
From 1964 to 1971, the Big Sur Folk Festival featured many new and established artists. These included Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Kris Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie, Dorothy Morrison with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Julie Payne, and Mimi Farina. During the October 1970 festival, Kris Kristofferson learned that his friend Janis Joplin had passed away in Los Angeles.
At Esalen, the audience sat on the grass in front of the swimming pool. The artists performed on the other side of the pool, with the amazing Pacific Ocean in the background. In 1968, about 5,000 people attended each day. In September 1970, the crowd at the Monterey County Fairgrounds reached six or seven thousand.
The Beach Boys' performance at the 1970 festival helped show that they were a serious rock and roll band. It also proved how good they were at playing live. Their manager, Jack Riley, said that playing at this festival led to them being invited to play at Carnegie Hall soon after. A recording of their song "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was even included on a Live at Big Sur Folk Festival single and album.
Even though the Big Sur festival is sometimes seen as the opposite of the very commercial Woodstock, it was originally seen as a refreshing alternative to the Newport Folk Festival. This folk festival also partly inspired the first Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
Documentary Film About the Festival
A documentary film called Celebration at Big Sur was made about the festival held on September 13 and 14, 1969. This film featured many performers who had also played at Woodstock just a few weeks earlier, from August 15–18. The Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper reported that the performers gave their time for the concert and film for free. In return, they would get a share of the money made from the film.
Daily Variety reported in April 1970 that the film's profits were split. The Big Sur Folk Festival Foundation received 88%, and the film crew received 12%. Another source said that Joan Baez's Institute for the Study of Nonviolence also benefited from the film's profits.
About 10,000 to 15,000 people camped out for three miles along Highway One for the two-day festival. The audience was so well-behaved that those who didn't pay the $4.00 admission price listened from the highway. There wasn't even a gate to stop them.
Who Performed at Big Sur?
Here are some of the artists who performed at the Big Sur Folk Festival from 1964 to 1971:
- First Big Sur Folk Festival
Sunday, June 21, 1964
- Joan Baez
- Roger Abraham
- Nancy Carlen
- Malvina Reynolds
- Mark Spoelstra
- Janet Smith
- Mimi & Richard Fariña
- Second Big Sur Folk Festival
September 13–14, 1965
- Joan Baez
- The Incredible String Band
- John Sebastian
- Delanie and Bonnie
- Dorothy Morrison and the Comb Sisters
- Third Big Sur Folk Festival
Sunday, July 10, 1966
- Joan Baez
- Judy Collins
- Mark Spoelstra
- Malvina Reynolds
- Nancy Carlen
- Al Kooper
- Mimi Fariña
- Fourth Big Sur Folk Festival
June 28–29, 1967
- Joan Baez
- Judy Collins
- Mark Spoelstra
- Jade the Mad Muse (?)
- Chambers Brothers
- Mimi Fariña
- Al Kooper
- Fifth Big Sur Folk Festival
September 8–9, 1968
- Joan Baez
- Judy Collins
- Mimi Fariña
- Arlo Guthrie
- Charles River Valley Boys
- Sixth Big Sur Folk Festival
September 13–14, 1969
- Joan Baez
- Joni Mitchell
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
- John Sebastian
- Johanna Demetrakas
- Dorothy Morrison & the Edwin Hawkins Singers
- Mimi Fariña
- Julie Payne
- Ruthann Friedman
- Carol Ann Cisneros
- The Comb Sisters
- Chris Ethridge
- Flying Burrito Brothers
- Struggle Mountain Resistance Band
- Seventh Big Sur Folk Festival
Saturday, October 3, 1970 Held at Monterey County Fairgrounds 1:00 pm concert:
- Beach Boys
- John Phillips
- Joan Baez
- Merry Clayton and Love Ltd.
- Kris Kristofferson
- John Hartford
8:00 pm concert:
- Beach Boys
- John Phillips
- Linda Ronstadt, with Swamp Water
- Mimi Fariña & Tom Jans
- Mark Spoelstra
- Country Joe McDonald
- Tom Ghent
- Joan Baez
Finale: All sing You Ain't Going Nowhere
- Eighth (and final) Big Sur Folk Festival
Saturday, September 25, 1971
- Joan Baez
- Kris Kristofferson
- Mimi Fariña and Tom Jans
- Mickey Newbury
- Big Sur Choir
- Lily Tomlin & Larry Hankin
- Blood, Sweat and Tears
Recordings and Media
Several recordings and films were made related to the Big Sur Folk Festival:
- "California Saga: California", a song by the Beach Boys from their 1973 album Holland.
- Celebration at Big Sur, a film from 1971, which was made from the 1969 festival.
- Celebration, an album from 1970, featuring music from the 1970 festival. (Only released on CD in Europe).
- One Hand Clapping, an album from 1971, from the 1971 festival. (Not available on CD).
- Live at the Big Sur Folk Festival, an album by Kris Kristofferson released in 2016.
- "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys, released as a single and on the album Live at Big Sur Folk Festival in 1971.
Images for kids
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Poster for the initial festival in 1964 by Bob Muson
