The Isle of Wight Festival is celebrating the 45th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix playing at the historic event by attempting to break perhaps the world's creepiest record. The festival will attempt to produce the largest mass of people wearing the same mask in the same place, with the crowd theoretically all wearing a special Hendrix mask.
Terrifying? Yes, but for a good cause. The sale of the masks required to take part will benefit WellChild, a charity for the families of seriously ill children in the UK.
"Jimi's impact on the island and to popular music cannot be underestimated," said festival organizer John Giddings. "His inspiration lives on today and is present each year in the artists performing this year. We wanted to celebrate the 45th anniversary by doing something fun with everyone at the festival this year. By buying a Jimi mask people can not only take part in this special celebration but also help raise money for our partner charity WellChild."
We're not sure about the lingering effect of Hendrix's visit 45 years later, but there's little doubt that it was one of the biggest festival moments in UK history, as more than 500,000 attendees travelled to the island to check out the guitarist. It would end up being his final festival performance in the UK.
This year's lineup includes one act that was on the up-and-up when Hendrix was at his peak, as Fleetwood Mac will serve as one of the headliners for the festival. Blur, The Prodigy and The Black Keys will also play spotlight slots.
The announcement doesn't clarify if there's a specific police or time where the Hendrix masquerade will take place, or if simply wearing the mask at the festival counts as "at the same time." It also doesn't clarify what the previous record holder was...although we're sure the Occupy Wall Street movement had plenty of Guy Fawkes lookalikes in attendance.
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