150,000 roar for Dylan

Bob Dylan walked in from the night to a hero's welcome at the music festival here. The voice of the crowd, restless after their three day vigil, rose for the slender figure. "It's great to be here," he told them as the tension broke.

For three hours they had been waiting for his first song to the British public for 3 and a half years - "She belongs to me." There were some anxious moments for the organisers when sections of the crowd began to move forward. Several people were handed over the crowd to ambulance men who could not get through. The crowd was forced together very tightly: it seemed to move as one.

Shanty town

Since last Monday they had been arriving, in the tent and shanty town on a 250-acre site at East Wootton - 150,000 people who sit around 14 hours at a stretch, tuned in to music from a long string of groups varying in super-amplified (1,500 watts) quality. They came on foot, by helicopter, by car, by whatever means would get them there. The narrow lanes leading to the stage and arena on the top of a small hill bulged with weary travellers, some with the look of desperation or pale and pained expressions. Those who could afford it paid to sit in the audience, but others pitched tents in the surrounding fields and were content to hear - if not see. Alongside and rising above the arena walls, trees gave a better view than could be had by those who paid for cramped accommodation at the rear. Outside they queued - patiently, silently, and up to 300 deep - for food and lavatories. Inside they continued to sit, seemingly oblivious to anything but the blanket of sound which made conversation impossible, and - for those up front - headaches inevitable. Mingling with the anonymous plethora of hairy heads, unisex leather and denims and beads were wealthy "hippies" like Jane Fonda and her husband Roger Vadim.

The tension

It was impossible not to be moved, however slightly, by this happening. The tension and atmosphere had been electric and increased as the afternoon dragged slowly towards 9 p.m., when Dylan was to appear.

The camp fires which had burned throughout the cold night were stoked to life again for breakfast. By 11 a.m. the arena had begun to fill again, and by noon the first band was in session.

In the village of Wootton, 1 and a half miles from the site, the townspeople were cooperative. The bewilderment showed in their reaction not so much to the appearance of this mass of youth but rather to their patience and calm politeness. The shopkeepers, especially, were making money and that may have lessened the blow and lowered the barriers.

Bill Foulk, one of the three brothers responsible for the festival, stood at the entrance to the press enclosure in the morning, checking passes. He was pale and seemed nervous as he said that he tried to look at the happening objectively. "If I sat down and thought this crowd was my responsibility, I might go mad."

The rumours that the festival would lose money are unfounded. "We only had to take 40,000 bookings to break even and we had taken 70,000 before it opened," Bill Foulk said.

Patiently, for he had probably said it 100 times before, he talked about the plan which lured Dylan to the island. "We telephoned him and his managers countless times and finally got a request from Bob to send information. That is how it started - you know the rest." He was enthusiastic about official cooperation. "The police could not have been more helpful."

Alsatian patrol

A watch was kept by 70 security men, 20 in uniform and with Alsatians. They patrolled outside the arena throughout the nights, but there were no reports of trouble.

There was, however, one angry man, Mr Albert Thackman, the owner of three acres of land leased for the stage and surrounding press areas. Yesterday afternoon he returned to his bungalow to find his wife hysterical. She had been abused, he said, by a young man she had caught using their fence as a lavatory.

"The mark on her shin shows where she was kicked," Mr Thackman said. "I fired one shot into the air. It seemed the only way to keep them off the doorstep."

Rikki Farr, the man in charge on stage, rested his voice this morning, and in between pampering his throat with a tin of lozenges he said: "Dylan is a great man, but you can have too much."

Love scene

In the area beyond the immediate arena, crowds were still waiting to buy tickets this afternoon. They were entertained by a fight to the death by four psychedelic coloured cars and had the opportunity to roll about on immense phallic shaped orange balloons.

A girl of 19, who gave her name as Vivian and said she came from "nowhere" took part in the happening which attracted a large audience in the refreshment area just after midday. She and a young man, both naked, made love on a bed of foam. At times the foam covered them completely. The girl, when asked why she had done it, replied "Why not? It's a beautiful thing." A police officer said no action would be taken unless someone who had seen the couple complained. A spokesman for the organisers commented: "We cannot control the morals of 100,000 people."

On the camp site there were few famous names who were not spotted at some point. Terence Stamp, Francoise Hardy, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison were either mingling among the crowd or "expected at any moment."