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Texas Pop Turns 50 celebrates the culture and music of one of Lewisville's biggest events

How about a little peace and love? Fifty years ago, that mantra could be heard throughout the crowds at some of the most famous music festivals in U.S. history.

Legendary acts like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who played "hippie" festivals like Woodstock, the Atlanta International Pop Festival, and yes, even the Texas International Pop Festival in Lewisville. The wildly successful Texas festival ran from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1 in 1969.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of these influential festivals. In honor of the major milestone, many are being revitalized and celebrated.

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On Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, the City of Lewisville is hosting Texas Pop Turns 50 in honor of what has become lovingly known as "Lewisville's Woodstock." The sizable lineup features a few of the original acts and many new faces, including some Texas natives like Edgar Winter, Bombasta and Sarah Jaffe. Matt Martucci, public information coordinator for the City of Lewisville, says they focused on building an eclectic lineup to honor both the past and the present.

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ZZ Top will play in Lewisville at Texas Pop Turns 50. Here, Dusty Hill, left, and Billy...
ZZ Top will play in Lewisville at Texas Pop Turns 50. Here, Dusty Hill, left, and Billy Gibbons perform at the 2016 Glastonbury music festival at Worthy Farm, in Somerset, England.(Jonathan Short / AP)

"Chicago and Grand Funk Railroad played at the original event and they'll be playing again this year. Then we have Edgar Winter. His brother [Johnny] played at the original event," he says. "We're very excited about ZZ Top. We've been trying to bring them to Lewisville for years and the fact that they're celebrating their 50th anniversary was a big deal. We tried to get a mix of some current bands that people would recognize."

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Martucci says the two-day outdoor festival isn't far from the original location, which was near the former Dallas International Motor Speedway.  It's estimated the original festival brought in up to 120,000 people, many of whom came from New York's Woodstock festival held two weeks prior.

Gary Buckner was one of those free-spirited attendees. He was a 26-year-old who had just quit his job in California to move to Texas to help coordinate and produce the festival. He says festivals in the 1960s changed his life.

"It was like a new reality had taken over. A new generation had blossomed. It was crazy. Music brought everybody together," he says. "People looked at each other differently -- as brothers and sisters."

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Singer Sarah Jaffe. shown performing during the Mavis Staples concert at the Statler Hotel...
Singer Sarah Jaffe. shown performing during the Mavis Staples concert at the Statler Hotel in Dallas, is on the lineup for Texas Pop Turns 50.(Carly Geraci / Staff Photographer)

Asked who topped his list at the festival, he couldn't pick just one. "Sly and the Family Stone absolutely stole the show. Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin were incredible. Joplin never let anybody down. Chicago was also great because they were so different with their horns."

Richard Hayner was also at the festival at age 16. He says it was a big event for the state, and a surprising one.

"It was overwhelming that someone would put on a pop festival here. Being a hippie in Texas was pretty rough at the time," says Hayner.

The event made such an impression on Hayner that he became its unofficial historian. Over the past 20 years, he's interviewed attendees and performers, launched a website and even installed an approved historical marker near the original site.

He says he wouldn't miss Texas Pop Turns 50 and is looking forward to seeing Chicago again, and experiencing ZZ Top for the first time.

"I think it's a chance to remember, to bring back what was said and what was done. But nobody expects it to be a sequel."

Details

Texas Pop Turns 50 is Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at Lewisville Lake Park Golf Club, 6 Lake Park Road. For tickets and the full lineup, visit Ticketmaster.com.

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The City of Lewisville is also hosting the Texas International Pop Festival: 50 Years Later exhibit featuring original memorabilia and a new documentary about the historic event. The exhibit begins Aug. 31 and ends Oct. 19.