50 years ago, a humble Bethel, New York dairy farm became the site for the event that would become the ultimate symbol of the '60s peace & love generation. Woodstock was about music, nature, counter-culture, and love. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most famous musical event in history.
Decades before the invention of the smartphone, the Woodstock festival was captured through the lenses of professional and amateur photographers attending the site. They were responsible for taking these rare pictures, which can tell us a lot about how life was like during that very special Summer of 1969.
A Place For Everyone
Unlike most music festivals, Woodstock was a place for everyone. Although the festival was centered around rock & roll music and hippie culture, people of all ages and cultures joined to attend the massive celebration. Even children were given a chance to experience Woodstock.
In this picture, a teenage boy and a young girl dance with their eyes closed amidst the crowd. While many outsiders have criticized the festival at the time, Woodstock stood out as more than just a symbol of the '60s counter-culture youth movement. It was a generation-bending celebration for the entire humanity to enjoy.
Loved By An Interesting Crowd
In this Woodstock photograph, a small crowd waits for the next concert while relaxing in a lounge-like area. For three days, the American youth adventurously gathered to camp at the Bethel farm site. Most people traveled to the festival by car. Some even used the classic hippie-styled Volkswagen trucks of the '60s.
Free space was a rarity at Woodstock, but the crowd was always able to find a place to lay down and get some rest. The number of Woodstock attendees surpassed all of the organizers' expectations. Yet, the event miraculously ran quite smoothly.
A Bright Future Ahead
The '60s was a time of spiritual reconnection. It was influenced by the popularization of old philosophical practices coming from the Orient. America's youth from those days antagonized the materialistic views that characterized the previous decade. Remember all those fridge and car commercials from the '50s?
The hippie movement couldn't care less about having possessions and living a normal suburban life. In this picture, two young women use a chopped tree as a table to engage in a tarot card reading. While psychic reading is considered pseudo-science by most, it played a great part in influencing the hippie generation of the '60s.
Engaging In A Family-Like Event
The Woodstock youngsters were the sons and daughters of an American generation tainted by the fear of war. They were nothing like their parents. They didn't believe in the concept of individual possession, and they loved to share all sorts of goods with friends and strangers.
In this picture, a group of festival well-doers gathered inside a Woodstock tent to cook a meal for the rest of the Woodstock community. Over half-a-million people attended the festival, but it was still pretty much a family-like event. After all, everybody could be considered a friend.
Making Use Of Whatever Nature Gives You
Waiting in line is an unavoidable part of any music festival. But while today's festival-goers line up in front of the bar, in Woodstock, the main attraction was the surrounding nature. A dairy farm cow can produce around 4 liters of milk per day, and these hungry teenagers cannot wait to have a chance of tasting it!
In the end, the Woodstock festival was about connecting people with nature. While today's youth would probably never look at a cow as a way of quenching their thirst, the hippies knew all about how important (and delicious) nature can be.
Family Album
Looking at the family album is still one of the best ways to recollect the almost-forgotten times of our childhood. But while most people have to make the most out of an old wedding photo or family barbecue picture, these two boys have a way more impressive story to recollect.
Their hat-wearing dad was enjoying a cold one in front of his psychedelic-painted truck, in a picture that illustrates perfectly how broadly influential Woodstock was. Countless American kids grew up accompanying their adventurous hippie parents during the '60s, and the luckiest amongst them were even given a chance to witness the spirit of Woodstock in that legendary Summer of '69.
Hygiene is Overrated
To most people who don't understand the hippie movement, hippies are nothing but lazy and dirty kids who don't want to have a job. Naturally, the counter-culture youth of the '60s was nothing like that. They just didn't share the values of the preceding generation.
Staying clean all day is fairly easy when you're living comfortably at home. But when you're a freedom-loving youngster camping at an overcrowded festival site, getting rid of the dirt underneath your feet is hardly a priority. Still, festival-goers did their best to keep nice and clean, and this improvised hose happened to be very helpful.
Janis Joplin's Final Great Performance
An all-round hippie hero, Janis Joplin performed one of the most impressive shows of her career at Woodstock. Approximately one year after the iconic gig, substance abuse took its toll on the talented singer. At the young age of 27, Janis passed away.
For her final great performance, the singer was paid $7,500 and graced the festival-goers with emotional hit songs like Piece of My Heart, Summertime, and Kozmic Blues. She played on the second day of the festival, and she was a favorite amongst the crowd of around 500,000 people.
Keeping the Party Alive
Government officials wearing ties and medical people carrying boxes around is not your regular Woodstock trademark photo. But the medical support coming via helicopter was essential to keep the party alive and to ensure the safety of the massive number of festival attendants.
Working on the sidelines as understated heroes, brave medical and officials crews have done everything they could to make Woodstock a safe place for everyone. Impressively, they did all of that out of good-will, since the medical assistance was not being paid by the festival's organizers. It's believed these professionals played a huge part in making Woodstock a victim-free event.
Alternative Stage
Nothing screams hippie culture like an improvised musical jam. In this picture, a large crowd is settled around a group of musicians who have had enough of sitting in front of the main stage. They decided to take their instruments to the Woodstock field and please the surrounding festival-goers with a classic '60s jam.
Woodstock's line-up included some of the best-known musicians of the time. Still, the vibe of the festival's crowd was more important than the group of major rock & roll musicians playing. They were surely a crucial part of the experience, but the real music of Woodstock was being played on the outskirts of the main stage.
Waking Up To Wet Mornings
Anyone who has ever camped at a music festival knows that the rain is fun's greatest enemy. During Woodstock, a couple of instances of heavy rainfall could have messed up the experience for some of the least-protected campers. But as you're probably guessing, the inventive youth of the '60s was able to find a way around it.
This loving couple is actually enjoying their little bit of privacy, hiding from the rain underneath a large piece of plastic. Heavy rain can ruin a lot of good things, but it certainly wasn't going to ruin a life-changing event like Woodstock.
The Disastrous Media Lounge
Decades before journalism was made easy by technologies like the Internet and Social Media, professionals of the press were subject to some harsh conditions. At Woodstock, the journalists were placed in a poorly equipped site that looked more like a chicken coup than a media lounge.
Here, they were able to use landline phones to connect with their employers and newspapers outside. The Woodstock festival got a lot of attention in almost all sorts of media in the U.S., but the hardworking professionals covering the story surely had a hard time reporting the event.
All Festival Trends Started Here
Today, attending a music festival is synonymous with tons of Instagram stories, social media pictures, and associated trends like face gems and bubble makers. But before all of the festival clichès were invented, Woodstock was paving the way for every upcoming music festival out there.
In this picture, a young woman named Jackie Barg is sitting peacefully amongst the crowd with her bubble maker. This Woodstock snap remains one of the best-known photos of the festival. It's considered to be a perfect representation of the event's vibe. That's how a world without phones looked like!
Happiness Is A Man-made Concept
How much the outside world can interfere with your humor is up to you and only you. If you think it's hard to keep smiling when everything around you is falling apart, take a look at this cute Woodstock couple.
Stranded in a pit of mud with nothing but dirty and soaking wet clothes, these two have not stopped having fun for a second. Instead of crying about the rain and hiding in their tent, they are doing their best to get their stuff as dry as possible. There's no need to worry or complain, it's just a little bit of dirt and water.
How To Show Off In An Educated Manner
According to the Urban Dictionary, a showoffer is someone who likes to show off a lot. We're not sure if this young man is just a resilient fan of books and heights, but he sure looks like a textbook showoffer! Still, we get it. It's easy to get inspired and carried away when you're experiencing something as special as Woodstock.
Our main questions have to be: How did he get up there? And how did he come down safely? Also, what book was he reading? It's showoffers like this lad who have helped make Woodstock into such an interesting and unpredictable celebration of life.
Art & Artists Everywhere
Decades before the trance festival was invented, Woodstock attendants were already working on beautifully ornate tents made out of simple materials like wood and cloth. A gathering of artists and inspired young men and women, Woodstock was a site where wondrous do-it-yourself art could be found.
The festival-goers were imbued in all of these inspiring art pieces and interesting people. At that, the small dairy farm of Bethel soon became a place of magic properties. It turned into a provisional land of freedom in which free-thinking and sheer creation were a part of everyday life. It makes us wish we were there.
Space-confined Dreams
Not everything was sweet and peachy during Woodstock. The massive crowd of half-a-million people was way too much for the small Bethel farm to handle. As the days went by, the need for space became evident.
Those who were not lucky enough to have a place to camp were forced to improvise when it came to rest. This young man is making the most out of his bike (at least we hope it's his bike). He somehow proved that sleeping comfortably at Woodstock is possible with the help of a little bit of creative unscrambling.
Woodstock At The Center Of It All
Humans love symbols. Symbols help us to make sense of our collective history and to get to know a lot more about ourselves. In the Summer of '69, the Woodstock festival became the ever-lasting symbol of one of the most controversial American generations of the 20th century.
But what was it symbolizing? More than peace & love, it represented freedom. The freedom to live according to your own choices, regardless of how good or bad the society around you views those same choices. The Woodstock festival became the echoing scream of those who wanted to live their authentic truth.
No Scaredy-cats And Superstitious Campers Allowed
The race for an empty camping spot at Woodstock was wild. Those who were not affected by superstitious belief and fear of the dead were able to set up their tents in one of Bethel's prime camping locations: the graveyard.
The experience of camping right next to the dead helps to set the far-out tone of the music festival. However, it's not advisable for the easily-frightened. In their defense, we must admit that this neatly treated graveyard is perfect for camping. It has a smooth ground and nothing but a lot of very quiet neighbors around. Sweet dreams, kids!
When You Live in Nature, You Look Like Nature
At the center of the '60s hippie movement, the Woodstock site was filled with nature-loving couples like the one shown above. Exhibiting the fashion trends of the time, these two happy festival-goers look stylish and fashionable without even making an effort.
Today, there's a belief that one needs to suffer and work hard to look good (just look at make-up tutorials online). But back then, hippie couples living in harmony with the surrounding nature were proving that looking Instagram-worthy could be an effortless task. Simple and colorful clothes, natural hair, beam necklaces, bare feet? Looking natural is something that will never go out of style.
The Celestial Message From The East
The Eastern philosophies associated with yoga were so popular in the West during the '60s. The Woodstock festival organizers even hired an Indian spiritual guru to deliver the opening speech at the main stage! They booked Satchidananda Saraswati, a religious teacher who was very popular in the U.S. at the time.
In his opening speech, Saraswati addressed the more than half-a-million festival attendees with words praising the celestial power of music. After all, it's a form of art that's able to inspire both change and remembrance. Considering Woodstock's cultural impact, his speech was on point.
Jimi Takes The Stage
There's no denying the fact that Woodstock was more than just a music festival. Still, rock & roll music was at the center of the event, and the main stage received some of the best musicians of the time. One such musician was Jimi Hendrix, considered to be one of the most influential guitar players of all time.
Hendrix delivered a compelling and historical performance, but the show was half-improvised. While attending Woodstock, Hendrix was accompanied by the Gypsy Suns and Rainbows, a backing with whom he'd never played live before.
An Ocean Of People
When the Woodstock organizers decided to make the festival, they were hoping at least 50,000 people would attend the event. It was an appropriate estimate by the standards of the time. However, it proved to be so disconnected from reality that the festival's staff and venue were constantly forced to improvise.
When you plan a party for 50,000 and half-a-million people end up showing up, you have a recipe for disaster! But the Woodstock festival was a peaceful event without any major accidents. Somehow, the festival's good vibes and the crowd of nice people have resisted all the safety hazards.
Don't Stop The Music
Catching a break from the main stage, a group of youngsters settles around an ensemble of improvised percussion instruments to ensure the music continues. Out-of-nowhere music jams were common at Woodstock, but these fellows proved you don't even need real instruments to get a party started.
In the typical way of the '60s generation, young men and women were more focused on making the most out of the few stuff they had than in trying to buy things and find comfort. It was anti-materialism at his height, and by the looks of it, it meant lots of fun!
Simply Grateful For Being There
The Summer of '69 wasn't always kind on the Woodstock festival-goers, especially when it came to the weather. During the 3 days of the festival, meteorological conditions were unpredictable. The sky just went from clear and sunny to grey and rainy.
In today's world, a fair share of the festival-goers would've simply given up and went back home—but not in Woodstock. Instead of complaining about the rain, these four party-goers are enjoying the occasion to get to know each other a little better. They may even be sharing one or two jokes about the muddy surroundings.
A Sense Of Community
At Woodstock, the unexpected crowd attendance was in the origin of a huge food shortage. To minimize it, some people offered food to the hungry festival-goers out of small improvised huts. They were crucial to allow the festival to run smoothly and without any major accidents.
A sense of community was part of what made Woodstock so special. Peace & love is also about sharing and caring, and there were plenty of good intentions at Woodstock. People were able to surpass any challenge provoked by the festival's lack of organization due to their sense of responsibility towards others.
Where Are They Now?
To most people, childhood memories don't normally include watching a legendary Jimi Hendrix performance alongside their parents. But all over Woodstock, lots of children and even babies were given the chance to experience something truly special during their formative years. They were an important part of the hugely diverse Woodstock crowd.
Nobody knows what happened to the estimated hundreds of kids attending Woodstock. Yet, it's highly likely they remember the event dearly. Besides, how cool is it to able to say that you were at Woodstock back when you were just a toddler? Childhood stories don't get any better than this!
Make Yourself As Noticeable As Possible
Decades before the Coachella festival and the rise of Instagram-media, fashion-prone young women were making bold and original statements with their attire back at Woodstock. The woman in the picture, for instance, is inadvertently starting a festival trend that still goes on today.
Gluing sequins to your face is now a standard fashion practice during music festivals, especially in the case of young women like the one pictured above. Nowadays, just like during Woodstock, people love to try out unique styles and outfits during music festivals. It's the perfect type of event to express yourself, and it all started at Woodstock.
Ladies And Gentlemen... Joe Cocker!
Another major artist that graced the Woodstock main stage is the late blues-rock singer Joe Cocker. He delivered a passionate performance that helped him catapult his musical career. He was badly paid, receiving only $1,375 for the gig. But for an artist, the opportunity of playing at Woodstock is priceless.
After the 1969 concert, Cocker went on to become a successful musician all over the world, seducing fans with his blend of blues, pop, and soul. A couple of years before his death in 2014, he was named one of the 100 greatest singers ever by the Rolling Stone magazine.
Good Things Don't Last Forever
Sometimes, it's hard to imagine Woodstock was such a short event. It lasted for only 4 days before the crowd of half-a-million people was dispersed and started abandoning the Bethel farm site. But those short 4 days of partying and loving would be remembered for decades to come.
For thousands of youngsters, it was the end of the experience of a lifetime. While some of the attendees were surely looking forward to having a nice hot bath and sleeping in a comfy bed at home, the transition back into civilization must've made many young men and women very sad and disappointed.
Is It Really A Dairy Farm, Though?
Woodstock was a surprising success and attracted a lot of attention from the media and even from the government. But if there's someone that must've felt awed by the half-a-million crowd visiting Bethel, that's the owners of the 600-acre dairy farm that served as the festival's venue.
Can you imagine being a simple Bethel farmer and suddenly seeing all these people lying down and partying at your once peaceful backyard? For the owners of the Bethel Farm, Woodstock was a life-changing event and surely one of the strangest experiences of their lives.
Santana Becomes A Legend
Almost every musician playing at Woodstock went on to become a major international artist. But Santana's performance at the iconic festival was arguably the event's best. Today, you can still go on YouTube and watch a small demo of the explosive live set of the Latin-rocker. But what made this show so special?
According to Santana, drugs might have played a big part. Forced to go on stage a little earlier than they thought, Santana and his band members were still feeling the effect of psychedelics while playing. The drugs resulted in an out-of-control live performance that ended up suiting Santana's compositions perfectly.
Creative Sleepers
We have seen a guy sleeping in his bike, a young man reading on top of a tall wooden post, and a group of campers sleeping next to the dead. But the man in the picture above takes the prize for "most creative sleeper" at Woodstock. There's no space to lie around and rest? Just make a bed out of two cars!
This improvised bed looks extremely uncomfortable, but he seems to be enjoying it. Music festivals are lots of fun, but it's very important to get some rest and charge your batteries before going back to the party. To the wildest festival-goers, Woodstock was like a non-stop 4-days rave.
Something Greater Than Yourself
History has a way of overpraising some events and situations. On some occasions, the cases that end up being an important part of history are only recognized as such after a long period of study and deliberation. That wasn't the case with Woodstock. The iconic festival felt like something historical from day one, especially for those attending.
Woodstock had a major impact in the following generations and became the standard model of what a real rock & roll music festival should look like. Most importantly, it marked the peak of the '60s peace & love movement that is still inspiring countless people all over the world.
The Tie-Dye "Capitalists"
Peace and love aside, the Woodstock festival ended up being a great business opportunity for many. This couple of tie-dye sellers, for instance, made the most out of the situation by bringing in a little bit of capitalist spirit to the festival. They even got a fairly rude sign opposing communism in their little improvised hut.
Tie-dye is still being used today, but it was huge during the '60s. DIY art and clothing were very popular at the time, and the hippies loved to spend their money on homemade products. Tie-dye products are very easy to make and require nothing but a bit of fabric and some coloring.
Richie Havens Plays The First Chord
Shortly after Satchidananda Saraswati's speech referring to the power of music, the first chord of the Woodstock festival was heard. On stage, celebrated singer-songwriter Richie Havens satisfied the need for music of those attending the festival. It was one of the most crucial moments of Havens' career.
The notable musician was mainly known for his genre-bending songs and his open tuning guitar style. His experience of playing at Woodstock was so important. In fact, after his death in 2013, his ashes were scattered all over the Bethel farm. He's forever at Woodstock now.
Still America
Sometimes, Woodstock is remembered as an anti-American event. Some people falsely believe that it was a demonstration of communism and anti-patriotic values. There were American citizens who interpreted Woodstock as an immoral and disastrous event at the time. However, it's clear that the festival was about what makes America great—not the opposite.
This U.S.A. pant-wearing hippie is clearly showing his passion for his country. The youngsters who attended Woodstock later become the men and women that led the country. Woodstock wasn't an event antagonizing the U.S. Instead, it's part of the country's history and has forever shaped the way Americans think and behave.
Can't Get Any More Cooler Than This
The conversation between these two remains a mystery. Yet, this picture shows just how cool some of the Woodstock attendees were. This young couple could be starring in a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde with their cool bike, black boots, and leather jackets.
Part of what made Woodstock so fascinating was the youth culture of the '60s. Whether you're 60 years old or about to celebrate your 13th birthday, the men and women at Woodstock look as cool as ice. We will never know what these two were plotting, but there's a solid chance it was something rad and inspiring.
Medical Assistance
Out of nothing but concern for the other people attending the festival, these two brave women decided to provide free medical assistance to the injured party-goers. While Woodstock was broadly considered accident-free, there were some unfortunate cases registered.
Namely, two people passed away during the festival. It's still an impressively low number given the number of attendees. One man died of a heroin overdose, while an unlucky camper was sadly run over by a tractor while sleeping. Volunteers like these two young women made sure they made everything they could to keep Woodstock safe and accident-free.
100% Free
They look like the cast of the next big TV show. But they are just a group of young friends who were using their '60s-styled Volkswagen truck to get a closer look at the stage. One of the girls even has a set of binoculars!
Roaming around the country with your friends in your Volkswagen was considered to be a staple of the '60s hippie culture. Most youngsters, and teenagers, in particular, do the best they can to enjoy their freedom and experience new things. But the '60s youth was on a whole another level!
Make It Rain
If you're looking for the origin of the unexpected Summer rain that was felt during Woodstock, what do you think of this group of people performing an ancient tribal rain dance? Science tells us they were not responsible for it, but the fact is their celestial request ended up being answered.
The question here is: Why would you ask for rain during a music festival? Unfortunately, "blue sky and sunny weather" dances were not popular amongst the Native Americans. This group of friends is most likely trying to honor a secular tradition rather than trying to actually make it rain.
Bringing In the Funk
One of Woodstock's biggest hit was the performance by the Sly and the Family Stone, a band that blended funk music with rock & roll and got everyone in the crowd dancing. They played a one-hour live set early in the morning, but the odd timing didn't represent a challenge for the band from San Francisco.
Comprised of 7 members, the Sly and the Family Stone was one of the U.S.'s first mixed-raced successful bands. They got a nice $7,000 check for the musical services rendered at the festival. The band released over 10 original records before their dissolution in 1983.
A Perfect Scenario
The identity of the young couple portrayed in this picture is unknown, but wherever they are, they surely are looking back dearly at their time on Woodstock. They were young, in love, and in the middle of one of the greatest cultural events the world has ever seen. Can you imagine a more perfect scenario?
In the arms of her lovable boyfriend, this young girl is holding a daisy. It is considered to be one of the symbols of the Flower Power movement that characterized the '60s generation. It's a picture that's worth a thousand words.
Yoga Craze
Decades before yoga became a mainstream practice associated with housewives all over the world, it was a crucial part of the counter-culture movement of the '60s. In this picture, a group of yogis (yoga fans) is stretching during one of their daily sessions.
Being at the world's greatest music festival is not an excuse to give up on a good habit like yoga. Yoga is one of the few ancient disciplines that explores the connection between physical, mental, and spiritual health, all in a thousand-years-old set of practices. Yoga was first practiced by the people of the Indus valley civilization, 3,000 years before Christ!
Farm Life
While musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin graced the main stage, farm life at Bethel was still going on. For the poor animals on the dairy farm, it was certainly a stressful weekend. But most festival-goers felt perfectly at ease with the surrounding nature and farm animals.
This young woman is very curious about the cute group of chicks in this coup and the moment was forever registered in this well-timed photo. Woodstock's rural site was part of the reason why the festival was so special, particularly when you consider that respecting nature was part of the core values of the '60s youth.
Driveway Chaos
While Woodstock was nothing short of a paradise, the traffic line to the festival could sometimes look like hell. In this picture, a group of kind-hearted people tries to help a boy who got injured after falling off of a truck. Due to the massive traffic jam, an ambulance couldn't reach the poor guy.
Out of all the chaotic situations originated by the crowd of people flooding the small town of Bethel, the Woodstock traffic jam was probably the worse. Some people were forced to wait for hours in line, with some youngsters deciding to leave their cars behind to get to the festival.
Lost In The Woods
The hippies of the '60s loved to change their surroundings in cool and peculiar ways. At Woodstock, someone decided to place these handmade signs in a tree by the woods, and we cannot avoid but feel very curious about what the "Groovy Way" is all about.
In the other direction, you can reach the "Gentle Path High Way", a title that also messes with our curiosity. The point of the signs, though, is that there's no possible wrong turn to be taken at Woodstock... Just like every road leads to Rome, every path down at Woodstock led to wonder, peace, and love.
Inspired Or Starstruck?
At Woodstock, music was hardly reserved for the main stage. Besides all the occasional crowd jams, there were also countless amateur musicians attending the festival. Some of them have even maybe gathered enough out of the experience to make their powerful songs.
This thoughtful shirtless hippie is comfortably sitting in the hay with his acoustic guitar and it seems like he's about to write a very powerful ballad. Either that or he's finally comprehending that he needs to take his guitar skills to another level now that he's seen that Jimi Hendrix show!
Long-lasting Trends
Although hippie fashion is extremely recognizable, there were different sets of hippie trends and styles during the '60s. This stylish young woman is making a fashion statement with her all-black attire. It even features a couple of leather accessories and the bell pants that would become a trademark of the '70s.
The toned-down style of this woman, as well as most of the '60s fashion trends, would later be revived by the fashion industry. Large belts, beam necklaces, and bell pants have all enjoyed a comeback over the last 1 or 2 decades. This proves that fashion is cyclical and that the '60s were a great source of inspiration for the designers.
Hendrix Got The Dough!
Today, the amount of money paid to the artists performing at Woodstock seems strangely low. When a celebrated musician plays for a 500,000 people crowd, you expect more than a couple of thousands of dollars to enter his bank account. But there was at least one Woodstock artist that got rightfully compensated for his services.
The great Jimi Hendrix played not one but two shows at Woodstock, one acoustic and one with his electric band. For the two sets, he was paid $30K, which was a festival record. The organizers had a $15K per artist cap, but Hendrix found a way around it by performing twice.
Candles In The Rain
Back when The Incredible String Band refused to play in the rain, the young singer-songwriter Melanie Safka was given the opportunity of a lifetime. The most unexpected artist to get on stage during the festival, she was also the more nervous one. After all, she was not used to playing for large crowds, and certainly not in front of half-a-million people...
But Melanie got around the nerves and the audience even graced her with a very special moment, lightning multiple candles during her folk set. Melanie's biggest hit, Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) was inspired by that unique moment.
Tim Hardin & The Dark Side Of Music
There's no such thing as a Woodstock curse. However, there's a clear feeling that many of the most brilliant musicians of the '60s (some of which graced the stage at Woodstock) were fated to find a terrible end. The singer-songwriter Tim Hardin, here seen making a couple of last-minute changes to one of his songs, was one of such musicians.
The talented songwriter was a tormented artist who ended up dying of a drug overdose in 1980. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, also present at Woodstock, suffered the same fatal and precocious end. Drug abuse was a real issue amongst musicians during the '60s and '70s.
There's No Air Conditioning In Paradise
During the extremely hot Summer mornings and afternoons in Bethel, hundreds of young festival-goers took it up to the woods to get away from the blazing Sun and hydrate. Woodstock was a paradise-like scenario, but the attendees were often subjected to harsh conditions.
In the air-conditioned, climatized world of today, most people cannot imagine what it's like to have to hide underneath a tree to get away from the heat. But back in that iconic Summer of '69, the youngsters always found a way around and made sure nothing - not even the extreme heat - was going to ruin their day.
The Place To Be
Woodstock was meant to be a 3-day music festival. However, the event became so popular overnight (mainly due to the attention of the media) that it attracted crowds of curious young men and women who gathered around for a 4th festival day. There was no doubt that Woodstock was the place to be!
Whether you liked rock & roll music or not, you were surely not going to pass on the opportunity of witnessing such a historical event. Flocks of people living nearside Bethel ran to the farm to see for themselves what all the fuss was about.
Songs From The Traffic Jam
These two friends have hopped on top of a car in the Woodstock traffic jam to enjoy a guitar-led song while they waited. Nearby, an unexpected half-a-million people gathered around a sound system. According to the sound engineer Bill Hanley, it was merely designed for 150,000-200,000 attendees.
Remarkably, Woodstock went extremely well despite all of the things that could've gone wrong. It was the spirit of the times. Just like this young man playing his acoustic guitar, most people knew that finding happiness and having fun is possible—regardless of the situation.
What's It All About?
In the end, what was Woodstock all about? Is there a chance it was just a massive music festival? Nothing but a party that turned out to be unpredictably large? The writer/activist John Sinclair believes that Woodstock was fundamentally about freedom and that the festival expressed such freedom in an unprecedentedly historical way.
Sinclair claimed that the entire message of the '60s youth—including the hairstyle, the music, the clothes, and the parties—could be reduced to that one single great idea. If freedom is one of the core cultural concepts of the history of the U.S., then Woodstock is its ever-lasting monument.
Just One More Sec!
This tired couple is finding it so hard to believe that Woodstock is over that they don't wanna wake up from their car nap. Either that or they have partied way too hard the night before.
Sadly, Woodstock came to an end.
With it, the '60s gave way to a new decade. A new one filled with new challenges and with different views of the world. It's hard to say exactly how much the Flower Power movement of the '60s influenced the following generations. But to those who look back at it, it sure seemed like a dream you wouldn't want to wake up from.
Live In The Moment, Respect Nature
Whether you agree or not with the political views and habits of the people who made Woodstock possible, you have to admit there's a lot to be learned from the peace & love spirit of the '60s. In this picture, a young couple portrays the message of the times beautifully.
While he's looking ahead, enjoying the moment and the vibe of the festival, she's looking up, admiring the massive blue sky and appreciating the surrounding nature. We are very little and unimportant when compared to the Universe. So, it's better to simply live in the moment and respect nature in the process. Be happy!