49 years ago today Woodstock began

[Ohiogal]

In August 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, NY. Over half a million people came to a 600-acre farm to hear 32 acts (leading and emerging performers of the time) play over the course of four days (August 15-18). Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Janis Joplin and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were among the line-up. Woodstock is known as one of the greatest happenings of all time and –perhaps- the most pivotal moment in music history.

Joni Mitchell said, “Woodstock was a spark of beauty” where half-a-million kids “saw that they were part of a greater organism.” According to Michael Lang, one of four young men who formed Woodstock Ventures to produce the festival, “That’s what means the most to me – the connection to one another felt by all of us who worked on the festival, all those who came to it, and the millions who couldn’t be there but were touched by it.”

By Wednesday, August 13, some 60,000 people had already arrived and set up camp. On Friday, the roads were so clogged with cars that performing artists had to arrive by helicopter. Though over 100,000 tickets were sold prior to the festival weekend, they became unnecessary as swarms of people descended on the concert grounds to take part in this historic and peaceful happening. Four days of music… half a million people… rain, and the rest is history.

Here is a set list of the performers

https://www.woodstock.com/lineup/

Half a million people -- 3 days -- the greatest music festival ever held

[PJMcK]

1. We went to the Bethel Woods museum last weekend

Our mountain house is about 15 minutes from Yasgur farm and we went to the Arts Center on Saturday. It's a fantastic exhibit of the festival and the 1960s. I highly recommend a visit if anyone is ever in the vicinity.

About a quarter of a mile west of the Center on Route 17-B, there is a 20-foot tall statue of Joe Cocker. It's believed that he first played the air guitar at the Woodstock Festival and the statue commemorates this. The whole community has many features of the '60s such as peace symbols and other "hippie" items. It's a beautiful area of the country.

[Ohiogal]

3. Wow, great! I hope I get there some day.

I was only 14 at the time Woodstock happened, but I was definitely into the music and I had that poster hanging in my bedroom of the hand on the guitar neck. Of course all our parents were totally appalled at the whole thing, which made it even more important to us teenagers.

[PJMcK]

4. Here's the website

https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/the-museum

They present concerts from Spring through Autumn. The artists are widely diverse and the turnout can be huge. We sometimes curse the traffic because the main road, 17-B, is a single-lane road in both directions so it can get pretty clogged before a big concert!

The local restaurants are mostly excellent and there is a wide range of choice of hotels, Bed & Breakfast and other lodging.

I hope you get to visit one day!

ETA: As a keyboard player, I found one museum display especially fun: There is an exhibit of instruments from the Festival that included Sha-Na-Na's Wurlitzer Electronic Piano. It's the same model as the one I still have!

[Botany]

2. And this was the best of the best

[brewens]

5. There are about 30 million people that say they were there! I live in Idaho and it was

actually a great event when the movie finally came around to our auto view. It seems like it was about two years before we got to see it. That was enough time for me to become an old enough kid to get away with drinking and smoking some weed. We were glad we got in on the first night because it was pretty laid back and no one hassled us.

Word got out though and the cops showed up the next night and the next weekend. Bastards walking around hoping to smell any weed and IDing anyone that looked young that had alcohol.

I laugh now. Idaho kids thinking they were part of the scene. Pics from back then tell the real story. We were always several years behind. You didn't really see anyone that looked like a respectable hippie even much here then. You were more likely to see a kid that looked like his mom dressed him with a Beatles hairdo!

[BigmanPigman]

6. 3 Days of Peace and Music

I liked the parts of the film that shows the locals discussing the behavior of the festival goers. One guy was really negative about young women having sex and everyone getting high while another guy defended them and said that if adults got together like they did but had booze it would NOT have been peaceful.

Too bad not all of the acts were in the film. The Grateful Dead wouldn't let their footage be included since they didn't think it was one of their better performances.