The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was an event held at Max Yasgur’s 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel (Sullivan County) is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, which is in adjoining Ulster County.

The festival exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s – early 1970s and the “hippie era”. Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend. Although attempts have been made over the years to recreate the festival, the original event has proven to be unique and legendary. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone’s 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

Woodstock was assembled through the joint work of Michael Long, John Roberts Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfeld.. It was Roberts and Rosenman who had the finances, and who placed the following advertisement in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal under the name of Challenge International, Ltd.: “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.”

Lang and Kornfeld noticed the ad, and the four men got together originally to discuss a retreat-like recording studio in Woodstock, but the idea morphed into the festival as we have come to know it. There were problems among the four: Roberts was regimented, and knew what was needed in order for the venture to succeed, contrasted with the laid-back Lang who saw Woodstock as a new, relaxed way of bringing business people together. There were further doubts over the venture, as Roberts wondered whether to consolidate his losses and pull the plug, or to continue pumping his own finances into the project. His decision to continue with the project resulted in one of the most successful events in music history.

Woodstock was a profit-making venture, aptly titled “Woodstock Ventures”. It only became a “free concert” after it became obvious that the event was drawing hundreds of thousands more people than the organizers had prepared for. Around 186,000 tickets were sold beforehand and organizers anticipated approximately 200,000 festival-goers would turn up. The fence was purposely cut in order to create a totally free event, prompting many more to show up. Tickets for the event cost US$18 in advance (approximately US$75  today adjusted for inflation) and $24 at the gate for all three days. Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater New York City area, or by mail via a Post Office Box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan.

The four founders behind Woodstock Ventures made Warner Brothers an offer to make a movie about Woodstock. All Artie Kornfeld required was $100,000. It would appear that it would benefit Warner Brothers, as “it could have either sold millions or, if there were riots, be one of the best documentaries ever made,” according to Kornfeld.

The festival came amidst military conflict abroad and racial discord at home. It was the biggest bash for the counterculture and is a reminder of the youthful hedonism and excess of the 60s. It was a culmination of what the counterculture meant — the bands appealed to the generation that was questioning the direction of American society. Many of the biggest artists of the 60s performed at the Festival, and it was their influence on the youth that brought them together to a farm in Bethel to struggle against bad weather, food shortages and poor sanitation. The site of Woodstock became, for four days, a countercultural mini-nation. Minds were open, drugs were available and “love” was “free”. It was a festival where nearly 400,000 “hippies” came together to celebrate under the slogan of “three days of peace and music”. At the time, it held the record for the largest music audience in the world until the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in 1973 drew 100,000 more people. Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman crystallized this view of the event in his book, Woodstock Nation, written shortly afterwards. It also created a massive traffic jam and closed the New York State Thruway.

WOODSTOCK – THE MUSIC 

Richie Havens

Arlo Gutherie

Crosby, Stills, Nash

Jefferson Airplane

Janis Joplin

Santana

Ten Years After

Johnny Winter

Country Joe McDonald

Jerry Garcia and Mimi Farina

Jimi Hendrix

The Who

Sly & The Family Stone

Joan Baez

Mountain

Canned Heat

The Band

Ravi Shankar

The lineup from the original program

deletereply terryridgway wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Briiliant.just superb….

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Mountain brought back some memories

deletereply theoneandonlybill wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Happy first birthday. We are Stardust? Not quiet, but we are the stuff of stars and the heavens are our home. Bands of frequency, mulling together where they are the same.

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 14, ’08 erm……that’s not YOU in the hippy-pic, is it? lol

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Doug, I knew you were going to ask me that ! Should I keep ’em guessing ?

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 14, ’08 So it WAS you……..

deletereply terryridgway wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Did you go ?

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Let’s just say I wore my hair like that and call it a day.

deletereply terryridgway wrote on Jul 14, ’08 OK

deletereply terryridgway wrote on Jul 14, ’08 I have lost count of the festivals that i have been to over the years… Glastonbury1978,Reading 1976 .1978, .Knebworth,1978 (both),1995…. , and many many more….

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Never been to a festival. After hearing some portaloo horror stories, I don’t think I’ll bother either……. Ah Jefferson Airplane…..Great band. Can’t stand Janis Joplin. Some great clips there

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08, edited on Jul 14, ’08 Actually, I was planning on going, but my parents didn’t let me. I was only forteen. I almost ran away to go, but I chickened out. SO THAT WASN’T ME IN THE PIC, DOUG !!!

deletereply welshdoug wrote on Jul 14, ’08 I didn’t see Slappy Squirrel in any of those clips!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 very FUNNY!

deletereply terryridgway wrote on Jul 14, ’08, edited on Jul 28, ’08 The funny thing is i have taken  our kids to a few festivals over the years… i think that they appreciated the experiences… they hold the V festival at Weston Park just a few miles away from our house……

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Yeah, terry, It’s great how nowadays kids and their parents can appreciate the same kind of music and go to concerts together (at least sometimes, LOL!!!). There is less of a generation gap for families who can do that.

deletereply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Happy First year blog anniversary!! I’m so amazed at the number of musicians at Woodstock who continue to entertain us in 2008. Wonderful blog!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

deletereply starfishred wrote on Jul 14, ’08 happy aniversary laurita this a very superb blog will take me a little listen to all the wonderful music you posted thank you

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 14, ’08 Thanks, Heidi ! It may take 3 days to listen to everything here, LOL!!!

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Jul 14, ’08 : )  : )

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 15, ’08 Is this cool or what ?

deletereply scribe5 wrote on Jul 15, ’08 i will be back to hear and enjoy the music of my youth.  so many memories of the era

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 15, ’08 Enjoy the music, scribe5 !

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 27, ’08 I wonder if I forgot anybody…