50 Years Ago, Missouri’s Music Festival Shocked the World

It was almost like Woodstock was airlifted from New York State and dropped into the middle of Missouri. It's been 50 years now since a music festival in Missouri surprised even the wildest expectations of the promoters and shocked the world, too.

Yahoo News just shared memories of what was the Ozark Music Festival in Sedalia, Missouri that happened over the weekend of July 19 through the 21st in 1974. "Disaster or best show ever?" they ask and the truth is it might have been both.

The lineup for that weekend in the middle of Missouri was one of the best that could be put together at the time.

U Discover Music remembers that Bachman Turner Overdrive ended up canceling, but the rest of the acts showed up and the master of ceremonies was legendary radio personality Wolfman Jack.

The promoters thought that 50,000 tickets sold was a best-case scenario. The result? Over 150,000 partiers descended on Sedalia, Missouri. It was out of control - quite literally.

The debauchery was rampant apparently and whether you thought the weekend was a tragedy or a triumph likely depended on whether you were a local resident, someone trying to keep the peace during the festival or one of the attendees.

It's now ancient history and we'll likely never see anything like this in Missouri ever again. I can only imagine what insurance companies and lawyers would say if you tried to put something together like this now. But, it's a memory that is now 50 years old in Missouri and there are few like it.