A new exhibit about Bob Dylan’s controversial ‘electric’ performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 is set to open this summer at the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Going Electric: Bob Dylan ’65 will follow Dylan during the pivotal moment in his career when he shocked music fans by changing his musical style, with a press release noting the exhibit “places visitors at the heart of Dylan’s evolution from acoustic folk hero to trailblazing rock ’n’ roll icon.”
Among the items on display are original manuscripts of albums Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited; drafts of the classic tune “Mr. Tambourine Man,” featuring handwritten edits; photos and memorabilia from Dylan’s last all-acoustic concerts; and a 1963 Telecaster played by Mike Bloomfield at the Newport Folk Festival.
The exhibit will also include a multimedia experience centered on Dylan’s July 1965 Newport performance, with never-before-seen interviews from folks who were there, including Joan Baez and Al Kooper.
“Dylan’s Newport moment is widely regarded as one of the most pivotal moments in the history of 20th-century popular music,” said Mark Davidson, curator of the exhibit and senior director of archives and exhibitions at American Song Archives. He adds that the exhibit “cuts through the myths to present a dynamic, kaleidoscopic portrait of an artist in a way that only the Bob Dylan Center can.”
Going Electric: Bob Dylan ’65 is set to open July 24, and will run until the spring of 2026.
More info can be found at BobDylanCenter.com.
Dylan’s electric performance at Newport was depicted in the biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet. The Oscar-nominated film is now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
