The Deeply Vale Music Festival: The North West Free Music Festival, Its Demise, Its Influence, and Its Legacy

Abstract

Deeply Vale Festival, held near Rochdale, England from 1976 to 1979, started with an audience of 300 and grew to 20,000 attendees in 1979. It played a significant role in introducing punk music to the festival scene and was initially larger and better organized than the Glastonbury Festival. While Glastonbury became the largest greenfield festival in the world, Deeply Vale did not achieve the same financial success. However Deeply Vale's impact and legacy can be considered as significant as Glastonbury's. This article explores the factors that enabled Glastonbury's success and prevented Deeply Vale from achieving the same level of recognition.