Woodstock Music Festival

Categories: Entertainment | Music | Rock
    • Actually held in Bethel, New York, not Woodstock
    • Estimated Attendance: 75,000 to 1,500,000
    • 3 fatalities
    • Tickets cost $18 in advance and $24 at the gate for all 3 days
    • Subject of the 1970 documentary Woodstock
    • Commemorated in the Joni Mitchell song "Woodstock"
    • Billed as "3 Days of Peace and Music"
    • John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band wanted to attend but was not invited
    • Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull turned down invitations
    • Founded by Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld
    • Organizers have held anniversary festivals in 1994 and 1999

  • The first Woodstock Music and Art Festival took place on a dairy farm in the town of Bethel in upstate New York in the summer of 1969 and featured performances from some of the most popular bands of the time. The event became an enduring symbol of the '60s "hippie" counterculture movement and is regarded as one of the most important events in contemporary music.

    It has been rumored concerts will be held in New York and Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. In March, 2009, Billboard reported Woodstock founder Michael Lang was seeking sponsors for a free concert to be held this summer in New York. In the past, there have been anniversary festivals held in 1994 and 1999.Billboard: Michael Lang Seeking Sponsors For 2009 Festival In New York City (March 21, 2009)

  • Lineup

    Some of the bands performing at the 1969 Woodstock Festival included:

  • Key Moments

    Several notorious incidents that have become a part of American pop culture occurred during the first Woodstock festival.

    Radical activist Abbie Hoffman took to the stage during a performance by The Who and started to fight with guitarist Pete Townshend.

    The Grateful Dead's performance was plagued by technical problems, and thus was not featured in the eventual documentary about the concert.

    The fences were famously destroyed, making the event essentially open and free to all comers, despite the fact that 186,000 tickets had already been sold.

    And of course, Jimi Hendrix playing "The Star Spangled Banner" has become perhaps the most iconic image in rock history.

  • Other Woodstock Events

    A variety of commemorative events and concerts have been held dedicated to the memory of Woodstock. In 1979, a concert featuring several of the original attendees jamming together - including Richie Havens, Country Joe and the Fish and Canned Heat - was held at New York's Madison Square Garden.

    In August 1989, a show was held on the site of the original concert in honor of the 20th anniversary. It featured mainly lesser-known bands, plus had an appearance by Jimi Hendrix's father, Al.

    To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first show, a large-scale festival was held in nearby Saugerties, New York. In addition to Joe Cocker, Country Joe McDonald, Santana and Crosby, Stills & Nash from the original event, the new show featured Aerosmith, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow, among others.

    The most recent commemoration was held in 1999 in the city of Rome, New York, but was plagued by violent, unruly crowds and an outbreak of fires that eventually ended the show prematurely.

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