John, George and Ringo watched Bob Dylan and The Band perform at the Isle of Wight Festival on this date. They were accompanied by Yoko Ono, Pattie Harrison and Maureen Starkey. Paul was not present, as Linda had given birth to their daughter Mary three days before. George and Mal Evans had met Dylan in Portsmouth on August 26th, to greet Dylan on his arrival to the UK. Dylan took the ferry to the Isle of Wight later that day, and began rehearsals at Forelands Farm in Bembridge.
The festival took place on August 30 & 31st at Wootton. Dylan's appearance was particularly notable as it was his first major public performance in three years. Around 150,000 people saw Dylan's performance and the audience included Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Syd Barrett, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Jane Fonda. Dylan took to the stage at around 11pm and played for just under an hour.
Following the concert, the three Beatles returned to Dylan's rented farmhouse where they gave him a pre-release copy of Abbey Road. They also invited him to return to the mainland the following day in Apple's rented helicopter.
