See also Africa and the United States; China and
the United States; Cold War; Europe and North
America; Foreign policy of Canada; Foreign policy
of the United States; Iranian hostage crisis; Israel
and the United States; Japan and North America;
Latin America; Mexico and the United States; Mid-
dle East and North America; Soviet Union and North
America.
US Festivals
The Event Two popular music festivals take place
in Southern California
Date September 3-5, 1982; May 28-30 and June 4,
1983
Place Glen Helen Regional Park, near Devore,
California
The US Festivals were the largest multiday music events in
North America during the 1980’s.
The US Festivals were the first major multiday rock
music festivals produced in the United States since
the mid-1970’s. They were the brainchild of Apple
Computer executive Steve Wozniak, who invested
over $12 million in the festivals. Both festivals took
place near the small town of Devore, California. Woz-
niak paid concert promoter Bill Graham’s agency to
hire the performers. Approximately 400,000 peo-
ple attended the 1982 concerts. Tickets cost $37.50
for all three days. Friday’s performers included the
Ramones, Gang of Four, the Police, Talking Heads,
the B-52s, and Oingo Boingo. Saturday’s show fea-
tured Santana, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,
Pat Benatar, Eddie Money, the Cars, and The Kinks.
Sunday’s show began at 9:30a.m.with the Grateful
Dead, followed by Jackson Browne, Jerry Jeff Walker,
Jimmy Buffett, and Fleetwood Mac. The 1982 festival
lost $4 million, yet the organizers considered the fes-
tival a success in artistic and entertainment terms.
The festival featured several air-conditioned tents
filled with then-new personal computers.The Eighties in America US Festivals 1007
Members of Gang of Four perform at the beginning of the first US Festival on September 3, 1982. More than eighty thousand people were in
attendance.(AP/Wide World Photos)