Black Sabbath - Mar Y Sol Pop Festival 1972 Concert Print

“The festival that never should have been.” A “pop headache.” “429 acres of immorality.” This is how journalists described Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, which took place in Puerto Rico in 1972. The original Fyre Festival, Mar Y Sol was promoted as an all-round, nearly all-expense paid trip to see some of the time's biggest artists for around $1,000 today. It was meant to be a Woodstock on the beach with camping and swimming. Naked hippies were all over the island, much to the shock and ire of locals. But the festival seemed doomed from the start as locals on the predominantly conservative and catholic island condemned it, especially for taking place during Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Many bands canceled, including Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath. The latter was ready to perform but never received the transportation necessary to bring them. At least three people died, two drowned and one was murdered. Promoter Alex Cooley had to flee the island early as the local government gave him a warrant for his arrest due to tax dodging. After the festival, dozens of staff went unpaid and thousands of hippies were left stranded with no flights actually booked for their returns home. The Red Cross had to step in to provide food and shelter as Airlines donated flights to “get the hippies home.” The seemingly one good to come out of the festival was the launch of a young Billy Joel’s career.

22"x14" Concert Print Poster