From David
Wilsworth- Freshwater, Isle of Wight . 26th Aug
A
town of tents has sprung up at Freshwater , Isle of Wight ,where thousands
of students, hippies and music enthusiasts have gathered for the pop
festival which got under way this afternoon. Not all the tents were
of conventional material , as the plastic inflatable shows. Children
accompanied their parents and one little girl is seen enjoying an open
air breakfast .As the festival started officially policemen , wearing
clothes in hippie style, mixed with music enthusiasts. The first groups
appeared this afternoon.
Policemen
in plain clothes are watching foordrug abuse and dealing - although
evidently , they intend to use the " softly,
softly " approach and take action in only the most blatant
cases. If they attempted to arrest everyone who smoked pot at the festival
they would probably fill not only the Isle of Wights ample prisons but
some on the mainland as well.
Police
say they have very intention of remaining in the background as much
as possible and uniformed men will go onto the festival site itself
only in cases of serious trouble.
On the festival site, Desolation
Row ,a ramshackle line of tents and other structures , is a stronghold
of the 'heads' those who take drugs freely and often live communally.
This morning I spoke to a man carrying a sackful of pot , who said he
could not remember the last time he had not been" high
". He was not willing to sell marijuana, but was happy "to
share a joint. "
Contrasting
with the heads are the "straights "who may puff at a joint
occasionally but who have come mainly for the music and the much vaunted
"good vibrations "everybody is expecting .
A
young Belgian did a fairly good trade today by painting designs on peoples
bodies . One young couple from Enfield , both artists, stripped to the
waist and had their torsos painted under the scrutiny of press and television
.
