A new exhibition celebrating Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Isle of Wight Festival performance opens at Dimbola Museum and Galleries in Freshwater Bay on 27th May 2026.
Experience Hendrix – Isle of Wight Festival 1970, sponsored by Solo Music Agency, brings together iconic photographs, live footage and memorabilia from the festival weekend, alongside first-hand memories from those who were there.
A performance that made history
The Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970 was Hendrix’s final UK performance and his largest ever UK show, taking place at Afton Down – just across the fields from Dimbola itself.
More than half a million music fans are believed to have attended that festival weekend, making it one of the defining moments in music history.
Among those in the crowd was John Giddings, who went on to found Solo Music Agency and revive the Isle of Wight Festival in 2002.
He said,
“The reason I restarted the Isle of Wight Festival was because I saw Jimi Hendrix and The Doors in 1970.
“Coming over that hill and seeing 600,000 people united by the same music was a real epiphany for me and has stayed with me forever.”
Dimbola’s deep connection with the festival
Dimbola has long held a connection to the 1970 festival through its permanent exhibition dedicated to The Last Great Event.
Its gardens are also home to a striking bronze statue of Hendrix, commissioned by John Giddings and created by sculptor John Swindells – installed in 2006, meaning the new exhibition also marks the statue’s 20th anniversary.
Dr Brian Hinton, Executive Chair of Dimbola Museum and Galleries, was also in the crowd at Afton Down that weekend.
He said,
“Julia Margaret Cameron, who lived and took pioneering photographs at Dimbola in the 1860s, would have had Jimi straight in the old chicken house that was her studio, and immortalised his face, as she did Tennyson’s. Both Jimi and Julia were forces of nature, pioneers in their chosen art forms, with a unique fashion sense and of mixed heritage.”
Dr Hinton added,
“Jimi’s Afton set was within sight and sound of Dimbola, and it is so appropriate that we celebrate it with this new Jimi-themed show. Since 2000 we have been celebrating the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival and associated images and memorabilia, now including the ‘new’ Isle of Wight Festivals at Seaclose, which carry on this amazing heritage and put the Island on the world stage.”
Timed to coincide with this year’s festival
The exhibition opens ahead of this year’s Sky presents the Isle of Wight Festival, which returns to Seaclose Park from 18th to 21st June 2026, with headliners Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris and The Cure.
Experience Hendrix – Isle of Wight Festival 1970 occupies the former bookshop on the ground floor at Dimbola, with entry included within standard museum admission.
See Dimbola’s website for more information, including opening times.
