Preparations for the Altamont Speedway Free Festival

KPIX-TV news footage from December 5 1969 featuring scenes from press briefings at two separate offices in San Francisco: those of the Grateful Dead and of attorney Melvin Belli, where organizers and consultants for tomorrow's Altamont Speedway Free Festival such as Michael Lang, Belli, John Jaymes and Dick Carter are trying to explain how this event will be organized and managed. Also includes views of Ronnie Schneider - referred to as "Mr Big" by reporter Bela Davis - answering questions via the proxy of John Jaymes. Ends with views of the Sonoma Raceway (a site which was eventually rejected as the venue) and of the Altamont Speedway, where the concert on Saturday 6 December would end with several tragic deaths. Opening graphic designed by Carrie Hawks.

This 16mm film print was remastered in 4K (4096 x 2970) using a Lasergraphics ScanStation film scanner, in August 2022.

Note that we can't find any other material in our newfilm collections relating to the Altamont Free Festival, which was recycled for repeat-use by local TV stations and networks decades ago and removed from the collections before they came to San Francisco State University.