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Remembered as the biggest and most famous rock festival of the 1960’s, The Woodstock Music and Art Fair or simply, Woodstock, would remain know in history also as a symbol of counterculture, peace, love and unity in a time of war and public unrest.
First held from 15 to the 18th of August 1969, it was created by four relatively inexperienced promoters, who managed to sight an impressive cast of artist like Jimi Hendrix, the Who and the Grateful Dead.
Rocky Start
From the start the festival faced challenges, when both the towns of Woodstock and Wallkill, New York refused to give permission to stage the festival. The saving grace came from a local farmer who agreed to rent his land in Bethel for the festival.
Few tickets were sold, but some 400,000 people showed up, mostly demanding free entry, which they got due to virtually nonexistent security. Rain then turned the festival site into a sea of mud, but somehow the audience bonded, and the festival went on.
The Festival
The influx of people to the rural concert site in Bethel created a huge traffic jam. The town of Bethel did not enforce its codes, fearing chaos as crowds flowed to the site. Radio and television descriptions of the traffic jams eventually discouraged people from setting off for the festival.
The security was initially supposed to be handle by 346 off-duty police officers from New York, but they were force to leave after they were warned that they were violating regulations against moonlighting. Initially the New York governor wanted to send 10.000 National Guard troops to ensure the security of the festival, but after talks with the promoters he decided not to. Instead, personnel from nearby Stewart Air Force Base help ensure order and air-lifted performers.
The festival was remarkably peaceful given the number of people and the conditions involved, although there were three recorded fatalities: two drug overdoses and another caused when a tractor ran over a 17-year-old sleeping in a nearby hayfield.
From Loss to Legend
Although it featured memorable performances by Crosby, Stills and Nash (performing together in public for only the second time), Santana (whose fame at that point had not spread far beyond the San Francisco Bay area), Joe Cocker (then new to American audiences), and Hendrix, the festival left its promoters virtually bankrupt. They had, however, held onto the film and recording rights and more than made their money back when Michael Wadleigh’s documentary film, Woodstock (1970), became a smash hit.
Woodstock’s cultural significance was quickly cemented and by 2017 the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and today the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts stands as a dedicated venue and museum on the original festival grounds, celebrating its heritage with exhibits and live performances.
Woodstock wasn’t just a concert—it was a symbol of counterculture. It showed the power of music to unify, to protest, and to heal. The message was clear: peace was possible. And though the event was chaotic and nearly bankrupted its organizers, it remains a touchstone of 1960s idealism.