WOODSTOCK\

If one word was synonymous with the phrases “Peace and Love“, or “Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll” in the late 1960’s, it was Woodstock. The festival, officially titled the Woodstock Music and Arts fair, which began on August 15th and ran until August 17th was thought of as the capstone in the era of human advancement.

Woodstock was originally slated to take place in Woodstock, NY, but was later moved to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, NY in the Catskill Mts. after being banned from Sullivan County. The festival itself was created and sponsored by four men, collectively referred to as Woodstock Ventures, Inc. These four men, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang would be known as the creators of what was thought of as a counterculture mini-nation. John and Joel were venture capitalists who had the funds to create such a massive event. Michael and Artie were the suppliers of the talent, Artie being a VP at Capitol Records, Michael, a rock show producer. These four met up and combined their individual assets in order to bring about the rock concert of a lifetime.

1969 was a time in which there was a strong cultural-political atmosphere. Autonomy was a very important issue, in which the youth wanted very much to break away from the ways of their parents’ generations. The promoters knew that in order to promote Woodstock well, it would have to be pitched in a way to appeal to this sense of independence. The key slogan used in promotion was “Three Days of Peace and Music”, which linked the anti-war sentiment of the day to rock music. The show was to be a blow out, something history would always remember. The bands contracted to perform were paid in amounts unheard of during this time period. The sponsors also contracted Michael Wadleigh to film the event as a rock documentary. In addition to the music acts, the festival also involved the selling of artifacts related to the counterculture, such as headbands, beads, and drug paraphernalia.

A big aspect of this counterculture was the massive amount of drug use that went on during the three days. Alcohol and drugs were everywhere, and doctors were brought on site to deal with people experiencing bad acid trips, among other drug overdoses. It was later shown that there were 797 documented drug abuse instances.

The show itself brought in many different types of people. Those attending saw Anti-War protestors black militants, “Legalize Drug” advocates, “Ban Drug” advocates, gays and lesbians, and Vietnam Vets, just to name a few. The show and those that attended were the ultimate sign of rebellion, going against all that was considered “right” during these days, breaking values that had been established during their parent’s era, as well as going against the war and other issues of the day. Bethel citizens, who signed a petition in order to keep the concert from occurring, obviously an unsuccessful move, looked down the festival, which carried all of these positive representations to youth, upon. The show, overall, brought in half a million fans, leading the security to take down the ticket booths on site. The concert also had an affect on the state, causing one of the worst traffic jams in history and closing the New York State Thruway.

The first day of the festival brought folk acts, such as Joan Baez. The second day saw bands such as The Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead. The final day of the show featured performers such as Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joe Cocker, and Jimi Hendrix.

The show’s budget included security, doctors, and helicopters which were required to bring the scheduled musical acts to the site. It ultimately ended up costing 2.4 million dollars, far over the original estimated budget.

Not much was said about the festival in the following years, but in 1984, a monument was built on site to remember a festival that would forever be remembered as the symbol of an era. Called “the musical phenomena of the decade, Woodstock came to be thought of as a state of mind, and an event that would exemplify all that was important to those of this time.