The Woodstock Music and Art Fair marked the largest counterculture gathering of the 1960s and has come to symbolize hippie values and youthful excess. Taking place over three days, August 15-17, 1969, on a farm near Bethel, New York, more than 400,000 people gathered to hear the music of many of the greatest acts in rock ’n’ roll history, including Creedence Clearwater Revival; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; the Grateful Dead; Jimi Hendrix; Janis Joplin; and the Who.
Woodstock was the idea of four young men: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, and Michael Lang. In March 1969 the four formed a corporation, Woodstock Ventures, Inc., and the idea for the world’s largest rock ’n’ roll show was born. Originally, the plan was for a concert for 50,000 people, but gradually the number increased to 200,000. No one was prepared for the number of people who actually arrived. There was a severe lack of water, food, and sanitation facilities. Because the concert was held in the open, and the organizers did not erect fences, thousands of people showed up without paying and with no intention of paying. The numbers of people trying to reach the festival closed the New York State Thruway and created a horrendous traffic jam.
The concert was sold as “Three Days of Peace and Music,” to provide a link to the antiwar movement and to prevent any violence. The campaign was successful; the concert was remarkably nonviolent given the size of the crowd and the lack of amenities.
Two subsequent “Woodstock” concerts were held in the 1990s. The first, in 1994, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the original event, and was successful enough that another concert was planned. The second “Woodstock” of the 1990s was held in 1999 and rapidly degenerated into a riot, becoming more famous for arson, assault, rape, and looting.
—John Korasick
World History
