Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Iowa's Woodstock, more from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Eat up the summer with an Iowa Soybean Association Farmer membership powered by the Soybean Check-off. Access timely industry info, engage in on-farm research, and join producer programs all designed to support your operations' unique needs. Activate or confirm your membership before August 31st and be entered to win one of many unique prizes, including a solo stove. Visit isoybeans.com today to learn more. The Iowa Soybean Association, driven to deliver for Iowa's nearly 37,000 soybean farmers. New York had Woodstock. Iowa had Wadena. But if city leaders of Galena, Illinois had not gotten in the way, the 1970 Rock Music Festival might have been held there. That was what organizers had in mind, but when they were blocked in Illinois, they came across the river and found a site on a farm near Wadena. Some 30,000 people attended the three-day music festival. Coming as it did just a year after Woodstock, some Iowans were not too happy about the event, which did feature open use of drugs and drug sales, and a fair amount of young people skinny dipping in a pond. Johnny Winter, Arieo Speedwagon, Little Richard, Iowa's Everly Brothers, and Mason Prophet were among those who performed. Walk on down the road, your head blowing free. Complaints went all the way to Iowa Governor Robert Ray, who showed up at the site on the first day, July 31st, and after being satisfied, that adequate preparations had been made regarding health and safety, told the participants to have a good time. This came after Iowa Attorney General Richard Turner had gotten an injunction signed by an Iowa Supreme Court Justice to block the event a few days before. The partygoers did not cause much trouble for the locals, but they did leave a lot of garbage behind that took a lot of cleaning up. The event was voted the top news story in Iowa that year by the Associated Press. The three-day Wadena Rock Festival began on this date in 1970. And that's Iowa Almanac for July 31st, follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.