Woodstock

Woodstock

In the year 1969, there was a 3 day music festival. It was to take place from August 15-17 in White Lake, New York on a 600 acre dairy farm. It was only scheduled to be until the 17th of August, but it went longer and ended on the 18th instead.

32 acts performed at the festival over the 4 days. Acts included: Bob Dylan The Beatles Led Zeppelin The Byrds Mind Garage Spirit The Moody Blues Jethro Tull Tommy James & The Shondells media type="custom" key="17501076" align="right" width="90" height="90" Jeff Beck Group Iron Butterfly Joni Mitchell Lighthouse Ethan Brown
 * __Day 1__** //August 15, 1969//
 * Richie Havens
 * Country Joe McDonald
 * John B. Sebastian
 * Sweetwater
 * Incredible String Band
 * Bert Sommer
 * Tim Hardin
 * Ravi Shankar
 * Melanie
 * Arlo Guthrie
 * Joan Baez
 * __Day 2__** //August 16, 1969//
 * Quill[[image:joplin.jpeg align="right" caption="The Adorable Janis Joplin"]]
 * Keef Hartley Band
 * Santana
 * Canned Heat
 * Grateful Dead
 * Mountain
 * Creedence Clearwater Revival
 * Sly & The Family Stone
 * Janis Joplin
 * The Who
 * __Day 3__** //August 17, 1969//
 * Jefferson Airplane
 * Joe Cocker
 * Country Joe & The Fishmedia type="custom" key="17500572" height="100" align="right"
 * Ten Years After
 * The Band
 * __After Midnight (Day 4)__** //August 18,1969//
 * Blood Sweat And Tears
 * Johnny Winter
 * Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
 * Paul Butterfield Blues Band[[image:santana.jpeg height="190" align="right" caption="SANTANAAAHHHH!!"]]
 * Sha-Na-Na
 * Jimi Hendrix
 * __Declined Invitations__**
 * __Cancelled Acts__**



Many things went wrong with the organization of Woodstock. It was originally supposed to be at an industrial park in Wallkill, New York. The people living in this area didn't want a bunch of drugged-out hippies invading their town. Eventually, they passed a law that banned them from holding the concert there. Now, the people running Woodstock only had a month and a half to find a new location. A man named Max Yasgur offered his 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York for this event. Even though he offered his farm, they needed to get a contract to rent the farm and they had to get all these permits to allow Woodstock to be held there. As the date of Woodstock got closer and closer, more problems arrised. Their estimated 50,000 people to arrive jumped to 200,000. They hired people to run the concession stands who had no previous experience.

The festival started after 5 p.m on the 15th but by Thursday the 16th, the area for the concert was already incredibly crowded. This was not a concert you wanted to arrive late to. Jimi Hendrix was the highlight of the festival on August 18th, but since the festival was supposed to end on the 17th there were only 35,000 people who saw him perform. The acts performed in front of around 500,000 hippies, all there for the same reasons: peace, love, sex, drugs and music. There were so many drugs going on that there was actually a "freak out" tent established for people who were having really bad trips.

media type="custom" key="17499848" align="right" width="90" height="90"

The hippies that attended the music festival acted as one. They lived the 4 days the way they wanted and didn't have to worry a bout society interfering. For these 4 days, freedom was a reality, and not just a hope or dream. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted, whether it be doing generous amounts of drugs, or having sex in the open. Everyone was doing it, so everyone accepted it. Doing drugs was often the way to get to know another person. They would introduce themselves with a name and maybe offer up a joint or a pill and then get high together. "Some concert goers treasured the festival as an adventure that changed their lives. Others found it nothing but a messy, dirty, disorganized debacle. But no matter what their experiences, Woodstock was undeniably unforgettable" (Jodi Kane, Woodstock Festival History).

Woodstock terrified officials in the country, and for good reason. The idea that a group of such magnitude could come together and stand their ground was no laughing matter. Had their cause turned from love and music to a revolution? The world we know today could conceivably be a totally different place. A better place.



>
 * 109 Servicemen died while Woodstock was going on.
 * U.S. Army helicopters hovered over Woodstock and delivered food, water, and medical supplies.
 * 35 men died as the last act of Woodstock was performing.

Personal Accounts **"Saturday Afternoon (Pun Intended)"** "I had my (full, 3 day) ticket a month ahead of time. In fact, we had things planned a month ahead of time, but there were some inadvertant glitches (not the traffic, nor busts, btw) that nearly derailed things. I still have my Saturday & Sunday tix ,laminated in plastic as of 1970. Friday's ticket was tossed into a thicket along 17B, when our attempt to get in that night failed We paused to consider logistics, & I just tossed it into the underbrush. Well, THAT one IS a lost part of history :-) I still thought I would need it - word hadn't yet trickled back to us that the concert was, in fact, free by then.

What was fortunate was the fact that we had made it up there on Friday, before the Thruway had closed down - being in a position to at least hang out & try again early next morn. It may well go down as the slowest traffic jam in history, but, I can say it sure was the most colorful, musical, & festive one too. Thank you, thank you, all you funny DIY car & van artists ; you really brought a lot of smiles to my face. v I have yet to write the whole, wall-to-wall Woodstock story, which I can easily do, & partially hvave. More like I somewhat ignored the subject over time, until it has become such an important, important symbol, as it is so much needed in these 2011 days, dark, dark atmosphere. ...." (woodstockstory.com)

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 * "My Woodstock Experience"**

"Background: I was a senior at Cleveland Heights High School. The world was changing from the Ozzie and Harriet, My 3 Son traditional family life. I lived in Cleveland Height, Ohio in an upper middle class family with two brothers and a sister. Mom didn't work. Dad owned his own business. They had 2 cadillacs. I had bought a used yellow mustang convertable the summer before with money I made painting houses. My contemporaries and I were feeling the change. We still didn't lock our doors at home. But the Viet Nam war and fear of being drafted, psychedlic music from Beatles and Rolling Stones, and free love philosophy had all changed me. I had also discovered marijuana. I liked it better than alcohol. I grew my hair long, changed my clothing to tye dyed shirts, bell bottom pants, etc. No longer Izod and penny loafers.

The trip: So it was only natural to run away from home to go to Woodstock. I left in my convertable drinking beer and smoking pot all the way. It took 10 hours to get to upstate New York. The time passed quickly with the blaring music that I sang along to as I drove. I was getting really excited about Woodstock. I had been to a few local concerts but this was going to be a whole weekend of music and a city of kids like me from all over the country. What a gas! When I got to tjhe road leading to the Yasgar farm the traffic wasn't moving any more. I drove until I saw ythe end of the line of parked cars on the side of the road and parked mine. I didn't think about where I was going to sleep, what I would eat, didn't bring soap or a toothbrush. I did bring some money and pot. I hadn't even bought a ticket yet. All I could think about was the weekend and music....." (woodstockstory.com)

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"As I am swept through the lush overgrown farmland surrounding New Hope Pennsylvania, I can't help but reflect upon Woodstock New York where I spent a great part of my youth. Indeed I am one of the 500,000 who attended the Woodstock Festival held in Bethel in the summer of 1969. That event literally changed my life. I had a motorcycle back then also. I rode it to the festival where I got stuck in traffic. A girl hopped onto the back of my machine. She has remained my wife for thirty-nine years.
 * "Woodstock Ronins Unite!"**

As a grandfather, it truly amazes me how many people young and old identify with this event, which took place nearly forty years ago. I believe it is because Woodstock has become the cultural and spiritual icon in the collective consciousness of America. Sitting in the mud way back then I had no idea that life would have taken me this far, and I would be living in this current reality.

The picture of my current V Star is the wallpaper on my computer at work. It often evokes comments, and the subject of the sixties and Woodstock often arises as a result of it. I marvel as the eyes of the young and old sparkle when I mention I was there. Most people get a sense of wonder and awe and feel in some remote way a connection, which is spiritual and uplifting. People often tell me that they knew someone that was there, or that they wanted to go and couldn't, or that their parents would have killed them if they did. Others apologize that they didn't make it. Sadly the young often time lament that they were born at the wrong time....." (woodstockstory.com)

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