Monterey County Fairgrounds

The fairgrounds hosted the legendary Monterey Pop Festival between June 16 to June 18, 1967. Monterey was the first widely promoted and heavily attended rock festival, attracting an estimated 55,000 total attendees with up to 90,000 people present at the event's peak at midnight on Sunday. The festival was planned in seven weeks by promoter Lou Adler, John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, producer Alan Pariser, and publicist Derek Taylor. Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin (in one of her earliest major public performances), The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Ravi Shankar, Simon & Garfunkel and The Byrds were all on the bill. The Mamas & the Papas closed the festival. The fairgrounds also host the annual Monterey Jazz Festival.