Woodstock

Festival

By Orla Wilson
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock was a music festival held on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains,
northwest of New York City, between August 15–18, 1969, which attracted an
audience of more than 400,000.

Is is often credited in music history as one of the most legendary festivals of all time
and as a pivotal moment in popular music history. It is also regarded as the definitive
event for the larger counterculture generation. Over the at times rainy weekend, 32
acts performed outdoors. Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 50 Moments That
Changed the History of Rock and Roll.
The Creators of Woodstock
The Woodstock Music Festival was organised by four
men, all in their mid to late 20s, and looking for an
investment opportunity. They were John Roberts, Joel
Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lane.

Lane had organized the successful Miami Music Festival

in 1968 and Kornfeld was the youngest Vice President
at Capitol Records. Roberts and Rosenman were New
York entrepreneurs involved in building a Manhattan
recording studio. The four men formed Woodstock
Ventures, Inc., and decided to host a music festival.
Venue
The initial plan for Woodstock called for the event to be held
at Howard Mills Industrial Park in Wallkill, New York.

Wallkill town officials learned of the festival’s scale, however,

and backed out of the deal, passing a law that eliminated any
possibility of holding the concert on their turf.

Woodstock Ventures explored a few other venues, but none

panned out. Finally, just a month ahead of the concert, 49-
year-old dairy farmer Max Yasgur offered to rent them part of
his land in the White Lake area of Bethel, New York,
surrounded by the verdant Catskill Mountains.
Tickets
With a venue and talent secured, the partners
turned to logistics. Fencing, entrance gates and
ticket booths needed to be set up and a
performers’ pavilion, concession stands,
bathroom facilities and medical tents built.

But by the time people started arriving a

couple days ahead of the concert, the fencing,
gates and ticket booths still weren’t ready.
 “You do everything you can to get
According to the gates and the fences finished—
but you have your priorities. People
one the are coming, and you need to be able
to feed them, and take care of them,
founders; and give them a show. So you have
to prioritize.”
Free Admission
With no efficient way to charge concert-goers, the organisers
decided to make Woodstock a free event
 Numbers
Originally, about 50,000 people were expected.

But by August 13, at least that number were already

camped out on location and over 100,000 tickets pre-
sold.

As an estimated one million people descended on

Woodstock, its organizers scrambled to add more
facilities.

Highways and local roads came to a standstill and many

concert-goers simply abandoned their cars and trekked
the rest of the way on foot. Eventually, about half a million
The Music
Genres: Rock and folk, including blues rock, folk rock, jazz fusion, hard rock, latinrock,
psychedelic rock

Woodstock's place in music history is legend. It was a career changer for some artists,
a sales boost for others. A few slipped into obscurity. Thanks to a wealth of audio and
video recordings, nearly all of those historic performances are still available.
 Creedence
Clearwater
Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was the
first big-name talent to sign on and
gave Woodstock the credibility it
needed to attract other well-known
musicians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=P0-ZKaWVYSk
 The Who
The Who were one of the best-known
bands at Woodstock. Like Jefferson
Airplane, who they played just ahead of,
they were scheduled to headline the
Saturday night performances but didn't
get to perform until the pre-dawn hours
Sunday
Their set consisted almost entirely
of the rock opera Tommy (not
counting the interlude when Pete
Townshend clocked Abbie Hoffman
in the head with his guitar after
Hoffman stormed the stage and
commandeered the microphone),
but they ended the set with the title
track from their 1965 debut album,
My Generation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F
03a-EYvifU
 The Band's appearance at
Woodstock was part of a tour
promoting their first album, Music
From Big Pink, released in 1968. A
few weeks after Woodstock they
recorded their self-titled second

The Band album. At Woodstock, The Band

(Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm,
Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and
Rick Danko) gave what many of their
fans believe are one of their best live
performances ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vou
51-755I
 Jimi Hendrix
As the final performer on the
Woodstock stage, Hendrix
electrified the crowd throughout
his entire set. The media made
much of his fuzz-laden
arrangement of "Star Spangled
Banner," but many fans consider
the performance of "Voodoo
Child" to be the highlight of the
set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=TPt8vegXAx0
The Lineup > Day 1
Thirty-two musicians, a combination of local and world-famous talent, performed at
Woodstock. Around 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 15, Richie Havens took the stage and
played a 45-minute set.

Havens was followed by an unscheduled blessing by yoga guru Sri Swami

Satchidananda. The other performers on day one were:

● Bert Sommer ● Ravi Shanker

● Sweetwater ● Arlo Guthrie
● Melanie ● Joan Baez
● Tim Hardin

Baez famously played the end of her set in a torrential downpour. Day one wrapped up
around 2:00 a.m. on August 16.
The Lineup > Day 2
Day two officially began around 12:15 p.m. Day two’s line-up was:
Quill

● Country Joe McDonald ● The Grateful Dead

● John Sebastian ● Creedence Clearwater Revival
● Keef Hartley Band ● Janis Joplin
● Santana ● Sly and the Family Stone
● The Incredible Stringed Band ● The Who
● Canned Heat ● Jefferson Airplane
● Mountain

Day two ended around 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, August 17.

The Lineup > Day 3
Day three began around 2:00 p.m. Joe Cocker was the first musician to perform. The
remaining line up included:

● Country Joe and The Fish
● Ten Years After
● The Band
● Johnny Winter
● Blood Sweat and Tears
● Crosby Stills Nash and Young
● Paul Butterfield Blues Band
● Sha Na Na
● Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix was the last musician to perform at Woodstock. Rain delays prevented him
from taking the stage until early Monday morning and by the time he went on, the
crowd had thinned to around 25,000 people.
Musicians that Declined
Musicians who declined to perform at Woodstock included:

● Simon and Garfunkel ● The Doors

● Led Zeppelin ● Roy Rogers
● Bob Dylan ● John Lennon
● The Byrds ● Chicago Transit Authority
● The Moody Blues ● The Rolling Stones
Conclusion
In conclusion, Woodstock festival was a very pivotal moment in rock ‘n’
roll history. From the acts the played to the events that took place, there
is no doubt that Woodstock will be forever iconic among musicians.
Bibliography

● www.history.com

● www.thoughtco.com

● en.m.wikipedia.org