Starting July 19th, 1974 The Ozark Music Festival was held over three days on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri.
One of the largest music festivals ever held, some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people although no more than 50,000 tickets were sold.
Bigger isn’t always better though and the report by the Missouri Senate’s committee described it as a “disaster”.
Even though the festival was not scheduled to start until the Friday, thousands had arrived by Thursday night and there was a steady line of vehicles creating a traffic jam that was 17 miles long.
A nearby farmer stated that two of his cattle and several hogs were killed and cooked for food. The portable toilets were turned over and emptied after they were quickly filled up.
By the Monday the festival crowd had left, leaving a field of garbage behind. Damage estimates of $100,000 were reported, as well as one death and over 1,000 drug overdoses.
In early September of that year, the city council banned future rock concerts in the city.
Nobody would blame the musicians who were booked to perform, perhaps the smartest being Bruce Springsteen who was a no-show. Many of the acts who did appear have stations on Exclusive Radio including Eagles, Aerosmith, Bob Seger and our chosen station today, America.
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