Murray Lerner s film Festival is a cinematic synthesis of four Newport Folk Festivals in the early sixties in which the art of folk music is pictured in transition during its most crucial years. From Bob Dylan doing Tambourine Man and Joan Baez doing Farewell Angelina, to country artists like Johnny Cash doing I Walk the Line and from chart toppers like Peter, Paul, and Mary to living legends such as Son House and Mississippi John Hurt. Donovan, Judy Collins and Pete Seeger are all on view, as are the Ed Young Fife and Drum Corps and numerous others that give a feeling of community and continuity with the American past. The film was originally released in cinemas in 1967 and has now been restored from the original footage, under the supervision of Oscar winning director Murray Lerner, with the sound remixed and remastered into Dolby and DTS Surround Sound to present the best possible viewing and listening experience. The Newport Folk Festivals of the early sixties were hugely influential and this film records for posterity the pivotal moment when Bob Dylan went electric a truly ground breaking and controversial episode at the time.

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