Woodstock Festival was more than just a musical event. It was more than the world's largest music festival, and it was more than the biggest congregation of hippies and bohemians America had ever seen.
Woodstock festival was a spiritual experience shared by over 400,000 people who, for 4 days in the late 1969 summer, came together to create an alternative, utopian society that fueled the imagination and idealism of generations to come.
But Woodstock didn't just materialize out of nowhere. The steps leading up to Woodstock were almost as miraculous and serendipitous as the event itself - and the amount of resistance the organizers had to deal with makes it a miracle it ever took place at all.
Where Did It Happen?
It was Max and Miriam Yasgur of Bethel, New York that finally provided the space for now famous music and art festival. They volunteered their dairy farm, with its view of the nearby pond, as a venue after the town's residents sabotaged the original plans for the festival. It wasn't all peace and love - the Yasgurs would receive threatening phone calls by enraged community members, but many people supported them and celebrated the victory for the Aquarian Exposition.
Still, signs saying things like "Buy No Milk. Stop Max's Hippy Music Festival" being placed near their property, and the Yasgurs' suffered a great deal of social ostracization from their community.
Getting There
Woodstock was originally conceived as a for-profit festival, and while the organizers agreement with the town of Bethel was that they would not host more than 50,000 participants, in actuality they had already sold over 200,000 tickets before the festival even started.
By the time the festival came around, around 400,000 festival goers were converging on the little New York town.
It wasn't easy to get to there. The amount of vehicles that were suddenly on the road was a lot larger than was ever planned. It was raining; the mud added to the traffic jam. Many of the attendants simply left their cars where they were and continued on foot.
All Those People
With nearly double the number of expected attendees - and eight times the allowed participants - it soon became clear to the organizers that there was no point in trying to continue charging people entrance fees. From a for-profit event, Woodstock Ventures made a quick change in their plans and decided to re-designate it as a free event.
The fences were torn down, and nearly half a million people descended upon the pastoral hillside.
Road Jams
With such bad traffic on the way to the festival, many people got out of their vehicles and simply improvised jam sessions then and there, on the spot. Others just left their cars on the road, deciding to walk towards the festival, and hoped to pick their vehicles up on their way back.
Those playing music, singing and dancing along the road added to the festive, otherworldly vibes on the way to the event, and helped set the peaceful tone that prevailed throughout Woodstock.
Peace
The word that first pops to mind when you say Woodstock is probably "peace".
The festival was a shining example of what a peaceful society could accomplish if they simply willed it. It was an important theme of the festival and influenced many to protest the Vietnam war in a new political movement - one of many that would emerge as a result of the festival and its widespread influence.
Fake News
Good vibes and positivity were the premise of the festival.
Despite this, during the first two days of the festival, the media's reports about Woodstock said it was a chaotic and negative event, with violence and filth being the dominant factors in it - but after many festival goers told their parents what was really happening over the phone, many concerned parents called in to the reporting newspapers, telling them their reports were false. Over the next few days, reporters changed their tune and began to report about how peaceful and positive the festival actually was.
Relaxing
Sure, Woodstock was a community and the realization of an alternate vision for society. It was a refuge from the pressures and expectations of "Square" society, and allowed people to be and to explore new aspects of themselves in a safe, supporting environment. But for others, Woodstock was something much simpler than that: it was, simply, an opportunity to kick back, lay down and relax.
High Concentration of Artists
Another amazing thing about Woodstock is that, while it was a huge event, the concentration of artists and creators in the crowd was huge. People weren't content to just sit and consume art - they wanted to take part in it and to create their own.
So wherever you looked, you could see people dancing, filming, writing and improvising, working in collaboration to create something larger than the sum of its parts.
Trying Out New Things
Woodstock wasn't just about the freedom to love and enjoy good music - it was also about the freedom for self-expression.
The festive, accepting environment gave event goers a chance to try out new fashion ideas, wear strange things they wouldn't be able to wear elsewhere, and to express themselves in novel ways.
Meditation
Group meditation and spiritual rituals were a big part of life at the festival.
All sorts of people gathered and meditated on peace, love and prosperity - some in meditation circles, some in disorganized groups, and some - alone, in the woods.
Mud Time!
One of the most iconic things about Woodstock was the rainy weather.
Despite the festival taking place in August, the outdoor event was accosted by torrential rains, which turned the gentle, grassy slope reserved for audience seating into a slippery, muddy hill. People were wet, filthy and caked with dirt - but instead of being bummed out because of the bad weather, the festival goers turned it into another opportunity for having fun instead.
Plenty of Kids
Seeing a child was not unusual at Woodstock. Parents took their flower children with them to the festival, and the loving, free-spirited feeling of the event made it a surprisingly safe and comfortable place for them to run around.
Some people even came to the festival without any kids and left as parents; there are reports of two babies being born during Woodstock.
Young and Old
If there was one place without discrimination in the '60, it was Woodstock. Age, race, sexuality and gender were all put aside, and everybody was welcome to join the positivity.
Pets
It wasn't just humans that took part in Woodstock. Between the long haired, psychedelic concert goers were also pets of various kinds.
This dog looks like a creation straight out of Jim Henson's creature labs!
But the best thing about this photo?
The dog's owner's custom is a designated dog bowl compartment sewn into the back of her bag.
Janis Joplin
One of the festival's most iconic performances was given by the young rock'n'roll legend, Janis Joplin.
Joplin had told her band Woodstock would be just another gig, not comprehending the scale of the event until she was flown in by helicopter and saw the 400,000 strong audience splayed out beneath her.
As the chopper began to descend, Joplin began to feel nervous - but ended up giving one of her most memorable live performances, and staying for the whole three days of the festival, being one of the last people to leave.
Veruschka
Countess Vera von Lehndorff-Steinort - better known as Veruschka von Lehndorff - was an icon of the '60s. Her life, in and of itself, was like something out of a book: Born to an aristocratic German family in their centuries-old estate in Prussia, she was forced to flee Germany with her family after her father - a reserve officer in the German army - allegedly attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Following the war, she became an immensely successful model and actress, and an icon of the counterculture movement.
The Age of Aquarius
Despite its name, the event we know today as “Woodstock” did not take place in or near the New York town of Woodstock at all.
Where did the name "Woodstock" come from, then?
Originally billed as “An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music,” (that “Aquarian” bit refers to the “Age of Aquarius” you might have heard about) Woodstock faced many challenges before it was able to get off the ground. But how did this Aquarian experience start in the first place?
The story starts with four young men – two with a vision, and two with the funds to realize it.
The Original Woodstock
While Woodstock would eventually be labelled a "Music & Art Fair," its original vision was very different, and started out with two young men: Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld.
Michael and Artie were music promoters and event organizers with close ties to the hippie movement in New York.
After running several successful events together, Artie and Michael had decided to start work on a new concept. Many of the folk and counterculture scene's artists - like Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Dylan - were hanging out around Woodstock in northern New York, and the two producers thought it would be a good idea to establish a small, high quality recording studio there for them to use.
They expected the recordings in their "studio in the woods" would be enough to start a label - but to get the idea off the ground, they needed funding.
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