The Isle of Wight Festival was Jimi Hendrix’s final UK performance and his largest ever UK show, taking place just across the fields from Dimbola at Afton Down in August 1970. More than half a million music fans are believed to have attended the legendary festival weekend, cementing its place as one of the defining moments in music history.

Dimbola is synonymous with the Isle of Wight Festival, with its permanent exhibition dedicated to The Last Great Event and the striking bronze statue of Jimi Hendrix in its gardens, commissioned by John Giddings, who revived the Isle of Wight Festival in 2002 and founded Solo Music Agency. The exhibition also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the statue, created by sculptor John Swindells and installed in 2006.

Experience Hendrix features iconic photographs, live footage and memorabilia from the festival weekend, alongside memories from those who witnessed Hendrix’s historic set first-hand.

One of those attendees was John Giddings himself. He said:

“The reason I restarted the Isle of Wight Festival was because I saw Jimi Hendrix and The Doors in 1970. Coming over that hill and seeing 600,000 people united by the same music was a real epiphany for me and has stayed with me forever.”

Also in the crowd was Dr Brian Hinton, Executive Chair of Dimbola Museum and Galleries:

“Julia Margaret Cameron, who lived and took pioneering photographs at Dimbola in the 1860s, would have had Jimi straight in the old chicken house that was her studio, and immortalised his face, as she did Tennyson’s. Both Jimi and Julia were forces of nature, pioneers in their chosen art forms, with a unique fashion sense and of mixed heritage.

“Jimi’s Afton set was within sight and sound of Dimbola, and it is so appropriate that we celebrate it with this new Jimi-themed show. Since 2000 we have been celebrating the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival and associated images and memorabilia, now including the ‘new’ Isle of Wight Festivals at Seaclose, which carry on this amazing heritage and put the Island on the world stage.”

The exhibition opens ahead of this year’s Sky presents the Isle of Wight Festival, which returns to Seaclose Park from 18–21 June 2026 with headliners Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris and The Cure, continuing the Island’s long-standing musical legacy for a new generation of festivalgoers.

Experience Hendrix – Isle of Wight Festival 1970 opens on May 27, 2026, in the former bookshop at Dimbola Museum and Galleries on the ground floor. Entry to the exhibition is included with museum admission.