History
This event was very historic that had changed many people’s view on life and was a huge part of the hippie movement. Many influential musicians who had played at the Woodstock festival refused to show up because of the size the festival became. Woodstock was actually supposed to be a small event containing a few thousand people, but it ended up having over half a million people show up. “The community was not prepared for the crowds that began arriving. By Thursday, August 14th, much of the area had become an enormous traffic jam.” (“Woodstock Festival History: August 15-16-17-18. 1969”) The festival became large part of the American Pop Culture which influenced modern culture and had changed the culture of the younger generation. The younger generation had then tried to recreate this iconic music and art festival due to how historic of an event it was in the 1990’s.
Woodstock was the home to many musicians. In the 1960’s, major members of folk and rock movements had gathered in the town because of it’s history, it’s rural environment and the vibe it gave off. Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and many other larger artists had made themselves residents of the small town. Although Woodstock’s purpose was not just suppose to be a historic musical festival, it was originally supposed to be the home to a new large recording studio. They wanted to promote the new recording studio by hosting a rock musical festival. The ticket sales were suppose to fund the recording studio (Perone, 23). Woodstock was supposed to be the original holding place for the festival but was denied permission. Since the permission had been denied they then held the festival on a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York, owned by Max Yasgur. They kept the Name ‘Woodstock’ because they still planned on building the recording studio. The festival became free because of the number of tickets sold due to the original few thousand that they planned were going to show up. When all the people had shown up for the festival, ticket booths weren’t able to set up quick enough to charge everyone, because of this, the whole festival ended up losing over $1 million (Perone, 27).
The Festival had begun just after 5pm on Friday, August 15, 1969. There were many talented musicians that performed at Woodstock. There was a total of 32 bands that have played at Woodstock. One of the 32 musicians that had played at the festival was the one and only Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix was the fitting wrap for Woodstock and the 1960’s (Littleproud, 155). By the time he played the crowd had dwindled down to about 30,000 people. More popular musicians included The Who, Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Santana. Richie Havens was the first performer to perform at Woodstock. “No one knew eight hundred and fifty thousand people were going to show up. And as far as music goes, more than half the people on stage, no one had ever seen before. And that was the magic of it” (Fornatale, 17).
During this festival, it was suggested that many people were in possession of alcohol and drugs. Drugs became virtually legal at the festival site because it was reported that the cops had ignored the people who were in possession of drugs and much rather focused on keeping peace during the event (Perone, 59). The most common drug at the festival was marijuana, which 90 percent of the concertgoers had smoked. Some other people used psychedelic drugs such as LSD that were commonly taken. There were 3 deaths that had occurred at the festival. One person had overdosed on heroin, another run over by a tractor, and another had died of a ruptured appendix (“:Woodstock and the Year of the Outdoor Music Festival (Part 2)”).
The festival had caught the eye of many people all around the nation, making it different from other music festivals that took place during 1969. Although many people still hear about Woodstock today because of the many great performers who had performed. The legacy of Woodstock still live’s in many people’s lives. People were amazed at how many people from around the nation had come together and could live in peace for three days.