Hundreds of thousands went to Byron Pop Festival in 1970. Why it never happened again

After the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival, colloquially known as the Byron Pop Festival, danced through Middle Georgia in July 1970, state and local officials vowed to never let such an event happen again, but it didn’t stop the “long-haired youths” from trying.

The Byron Pop Festival started July 3, 1970 with an estimated 50,000 people attending the first day at the Middle Georgia Raceway. The crowd grew, and estimates to the amount of people ranged from 200-500,000.

Festivities included nudity, drugs and around 40 hours of rock music, and local officials would later call the festival a “public nuisance” in front of a judge that inevitably prevent future concerts at the Raceway.

After the festival, state lawmakers, typically those from the Middle Georgia area, started drafting legislation to prevent future music festivals.

Prohibiting ‘mass gatherings’

On Feb. 23, 1971, a pop festival control bill, mainly authored by Rep. Dan Grahl of Fort Valley and Rep. Mitch Miller of Macon, passed in the Georgia House of Representatives that would require promoters of “mass gatherings” to post a surety bond of $1 million to pay for property damages or cover a fine for failing to comply with health and safety requirements.

A mass gathering was defined as events lasting for 15 continuous hours or more and are expected to attract 5,000 or more people.

The legislation made several exceptions including for religious, agricultural and sporting events, which raised concerns that the bill might be discriminatory because it only applied to a few entertainment areas, mainly music and art.

After an amendment that would give the governor of Georgia authority to invoke martial law over mass gatherings if an emergency occurs, the Georgia Senate passed the bill on March 5, 1971 and was sent back to the house for final approval

No more pop festivals

As the Fourth of July holiday neared in 1971, state and local officials raised concerns about whether the new legislation would prevent another Byron Pop Festival.

Middle Georgia Raceway was hosting regular concerts every other weekend, and after a near-fight broke out at a concert on June 5, 1971, Peach County citizens asked for a legal way to prevent future concerts.

Because these events did not have more than 5,000 people and did not last more than 15 hours, the new legislation did not prevent them, and the second Byron Pop Festival, or third Atlanta International Pop Festival, planned for July 3 appeared to be exempt from the law as well. Although the festival was expected to bring around 40,000 people, the festival could be exempt from the law as long as it didn’t continue for 15 hours.

Middle Georgia and state law enforcement, the State Health Department and local government officials said they would do anything and everything to make it more difficult for the concert to take place.

After Raceway owner Lamar Brown announced he planned to reroute festival traffic through Houston County, Houston County officials said they would use the same tactics as Peach County to discourage the rock festival. At the previous concert, Peach County officers set up checks on both sides of the road, which Brown said was harassment.

The State Health Department planned to impose strict health and sanitation measures for the concert and demanded detailed plans from the promoters.

Although the Peach County Commission refused a permit for the concert on June 19, it was believed they had moved too late to file an injunction; however, the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jack J. Gautier petitioned Peach County Superior Court on Tuesday, June 29, to prevent the pop festival and to permanently padlock and blockade the gates to the raceway.

Gautier wrote in the petition that the concerts were a “public nuisance,” and if they would be allowed to continue, they would “lower the social and moral standards of Peach County citizens, corrupt the manners and morals of those attending, and encourage disregard for penal statutes of the State of Georgia.”

A hearing was scheduled for the following Thursday, and Judge C. Cloud Morgan halted the concert that was planned to start in two days.

What happened in that hearing?

Judge Morgan listened to more than nine hours of testimony, mainly from witnesses from the DA’s office.

Raceway owner Lamar Brown said he only expected around 5-6,000 people at the event. His attorney’s defense relied on the fact that the DA waited too late to file the injunction, private property rights were being violated and there was not enough evidence against Brown.

For the past two concerts, Brown has put up a $10,000 bond for damages with no claims and no one had tried to sue him for damages.

However, the judge banned any events at the raceway until a jury trial could be held.

Did people show up on July 3?

Only around 500 people were turned away by Peach County patrolmen on July 3, when the concert was supposed to be held.

A headline in the July 5, 1971 Telegraph read “Disappointed Youths Rock in Macon Park.” Around 100 people who planned to attend the concert in Byron gathered at Central City Park to celebrate their Fourth of July and listen to music.

The Tyme Peace, a band from Houston County that was booked for the Byron festival, played for free for a few hours in the park.

What happened to the raceway?

On Sept. 10, 1971, Lamar Brown announced that the Middle Georgia Raceway would be auctioned off on Oct. 2 if the property wasn’t sold before then. Brown was selling the raceway due to financial difficulties.

Brown and his father built the $500,000 ½-mile paved track in 1966, and it was regarded as one of the finest in the nation. When describing the successful events the track has seen, the Byron Pop Festival was listed as one in the Telegraph article about the sale.

The Raceway sold and the new owners pledged their support with local law enforcement and government officials. The Georgia 500 NASCAR race was held in November 1971, and drivers such as Richard Petty and other NASCAR legends raced on the track. The Georgia 500 in 1971 was the last NASCAR race held at the track.

The Raceway was up for sale in 2019 for $1.2 million, but according to the Peach County Tax Assessor’s website, the property didn’t sell.

Although the Raceway has seen several other events over the years, nothing can compare to its NASCAR glory days between 1966-1971 and the Byron Pop Festival of 1970.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.