Woodstock Festival: Everything You Need to Know About This Historic Event.

The Woodstock Music Festival kicked off on 15 August 1969, drawing a crowd of half a million people to a dairy farm near Bethel, New York. Celebrated as a must-experience event, Woodstock was a festival that unfolded over three days of intense peace and music ("Peace and Music"). This epic event would later simply be known as Woodstock, becoming synonymous with the 1960s counterculture movement. Woodstock was a success, but the massive concert faced many challenges: last-minute changes, poor weather, and hordes of attendees caused significant headaches. Despite the rain during the festival, the enormous amounts of drugs, sex, and rock n' roll made Woodstock a peaceful party that rightfully earned its spot in the history of hippie culture.

The Creation of Woodstock

The Woodstock Music Festival was conceived by four men, all 27 years old or younger, seeking an event idea that could blend business with their passion for hippie and rock culture. The founders were John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, and Michael Lang.

These four businessmen were not new to the scene. Lang had previously organized the Miami Music Festival in 1968, and Kornfeld was the youngest vice president at Capitol Records. Roberts and Rosenman were New York entrepreneurs involved in building a recording studio in Manhattan. The four men formed Woodstock Ventures, Inc., and decided to host a music festival.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was the first major act to sign on, lending Woodstock the credibility it needed to attract other renowned musicians.

Where was Woodstock?

The original plan for Woodstock was to hold the event at Howard Mills Industrial Park in Wallkill, New York.

However, the local officials in Wallkill were frightened and withdrew from the agreement by enacting a law that eliminated any possibility of hosting the concert there.

Woodstock Ventures explored several other sites, but none worked out. Finally, just a month before the concert, Max Yasgur, a 49-year-old dairy farmer, offered to rent them part of his land in the White Lake area of Bethel, New York, surrounded by the lush Catskill Mountains.

With just a month to go, the four frantic partners jumped at the chance and paid the asking price.

Woodstock, not in the town of Woodstock

Max Yasgur likely never imagined he would host half a million people on his 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York. But over three consecutive days in August 1969, his pastoral pastures became a hub for sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll during Woodstock, the music festival that changed the world.

Even though it's called the Woodstock festival, Yasgur's dairy farm was actually over 50 kilometers away from the town of Woodstock, and not within walking distance.

Woodstock becomes a free concert

Woodstock was not originally intended to be a free concert. However, due to time constraints and lack of organization, the concert partners were forced to make it a free concert. The main reason was that the ticket booths and security barriers were not ready for the event's start. With no way to restrict access to the festival and charge attendees (no ticket booth), they had no choice but to make the festival free.

According to Lang in an interview with the Telegraph, “You do everything you can to get the gates and fences finished, but you have your priorities. People are coming; you have to feed them, take care of them, and give them a show. So you have to set priorities.”

With no effective means to charge attendees, Lang and his partners decided to make Woodstock a free event.

A massive influx of festival-goers

Initially, around 50,000 people were expected. But on 13 August, just two days before the concert, that number was already on site, with over 100,000 tickets sold in advance.

As approximately one million people descended on Woodstock, the organisers rushed to add more facilities. Highways and local roads became congested, and many festival-goers simply abandoned their cars and walked the rest of the way. In the end, about half a million people made their way to the venue.

The Audience

The audience at Woodstock was diverse and reflected the rapidly changing times. Some were hippies alienated by a materialistic society, while others were simply rock lovers.

In 1969, the country was embroiled in the controversy of the Vietnam War, a conflict that many young people opposed vehemently. It was also the era of the civil rights movement, a time of great upheaval and protest. Woodstock was an opportunity for people to escape into music and spread a message of unity and peace.

Although the crowd at Woodstock faced bad weather, muddy conditions, and a lack of food, water, and adequate sanitation, the overall atmosphere remained harmonious. In retrospect, some attribute the absence of violence to the large use of psychedelic drugs.

Others believe the hippies were simply living their mantra of "make love, not war". In fact, many people at Woodstock took this commandment literally and made love anytime and anywhere.

Safety and Security Issues

Doctors, paramedics, and volunteer nurses staffed the Woodstock medical tent. Most injuries were minor, such as food poisoning and barefoot injuries.

It was reported that eight women had miscarriages. One teenager died after being crushed by a tractor. Another person died from a drug-related incident. However, this is minor compared to the sheer number of festival-goers (half a million).

Security was limited, as off-duty police officers were prohibited. It is estimated that there were no more than a dozen police officers monitoring 500,000 attendees.

Performers at Woodstock

Thirty-two musicians, a mix of local talents and world-renowned artists, performed at Woodstock. Around 5 PM on Friday, 15 August, Richie Havens took the stage and played a 45-minute set.

Havens was followed by an impromptu blessing by yoga guru Sri Swami Satchidananda. Other artists on the first day included:

• Bert Sommer
• Sweetwater
• Melanie
• Tim Hardin
• Ravi Shankar
• Arlo Guthrie
• Joan Baez

Baez finished her set under torrential rain. The first day wrapped up around 2 AM on 16 August.

The second day officially started around 12:15 PM. The lineup for the second day included:

• Quill
• Country Joe McDonald
• John Sebastian
• Keef Hartley Band
• Santana
• The Incredible String Band
• Canned Heat
• Mountain
• The Grateful Dead
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Janis Joplin
• Sly and the Family Stone
• The Who
• Jefferson Airplane

The second day concluded around 9:45 PM on Sunday, 17 August.

The third day began around 2 PM. Joe Cocker was the first musician to perform. The rest of the lineup included:

• Country Joe and The Fish
• Ten Years After
• The Band
• Johnny Winter
• Blood Sweat and Tears
• Crosby Stills Nash and Young
• Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Sha Na Na
• Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix was the last performer at Woodstock. Rain delays prevented him from taking the stage until early Monday morning, and by the time he did, the crowd had dwindled to around 25,000 people.

There were also some artists who declined to participate in the Woodstock event, such as:

• Simon and Garfunkel
• Led Zeppelin
• Bob Dylan
• The Byrds
• The Moody Blues
• The Doors
• Roy Rogers
• John Lennon
• Chicago Transit Authority
• The Rolling Stones

The Legacy of Woodstock

Woodstock officially ended on Monday, 18 August, after Hendrix left the stage. Leaving Woodstock was not any easier than arriving. Roads and highways quickly became congested as festival-goers returned home.

Cleaning up the site was a colossal task that took several days, many bulldozers, and tens of thousands of dollars.

In 2006, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts opened on the hill where the Woodstock Music Festival took place. Today, it hosts outdoor concerts in its beautiful pavilion. There is also a 1960s museum on-site.

Many popular musicians have performed at Bethel Woods, some of whom also took the stage at Woodstock, like Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Santana, Arlo Guthrie, and Joe Cocker.

Woodstock may be best described by Max Yasgur, the humble farmer who lent his land for the occasion. Addressing the audience on the third day, he said: "....you have proven something to the world...what you have proven to the entire world is that half a million children, and I call you children because I have children older than you, half a million young people can gather and have three days of fun, music, and nothing but fun, and music, and may God be my witness!”

Reliving the Woodstock festival

Jimi Hendrix performs 'The Star-Spangled Banner' on the last morning of the Woodstock concert in 1969.

Santana performs 'Soul Sacrifice' on the second day of the Woodstock festival in 1969.

Jefferson Airplane performs 'White Rabbit' on the second day of the Woodstock music festival in 1969.

Audience members leave the Woodstock festival in 1969 to return to their lives after three days of music, peace, and love.