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Woodstock By Curtis Erdmann

The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair of Bethel, New York consisted of three days of music, dancing, and protest. What was not expected was three days of rain, loss of life, and birth. From August 15th, 1969 to the 18th, over 400 thousand young men and women flocked to a gathering on Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in northern New York. Rock festivals had gained popularity, especially one festival called the Monterey Pop Festival. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair at first seemed to be just another festival, but turned into one of the largest gatherings ever. Many think it became one of the most famous fairs because of the large amount of artists who performed there. The men who decided to hold the concert were originally attempting to hold a gathering of young adults, but ended up hosting the ultimate festival. Their goals were to have three days of peace, music, and profits. Although the festival was called Woodstock, it was held in the town of Bethel, a few miles from the planned location. Originally, the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair was expected to be a profitable show, but once the enormity of the show was realized, and the fence was ripped down, the managers knew that the flood of attendees could not be held back by any force. After the many hundred thousands of men and women arrived in Bethel, a small farming community, streets were flooded with cars and pedestrians, traffic jams as large as twenty miles long clogged streets and caused many cancellations of performances. Insufficient amounts of food, medical care, security, and toilets also caused large problems. Despite the problems, the fair was a musical success. Popular artists such as The Who and Jimi Hendrix drew huge crowds. The lack of security caused few problems. Of the problems, three people were killed; there were three miscarriages, and two births. Of the three people killed one was too drugged up to notice, and the other two were just plain unlucky. Other than these deaths, Woodstock was just a very hard-core rock concert. The festival had left the four men (who spent $2.4 million) who produced it just about bankrupt. Luckily for them, they had kept their recording, and film rights. Ultimately, they came out ahead after Michael Wadleigh’s three hour, four minute film, __Woodstock__, netted many thousands of dollars. This ultra-long documentary was considered to be one of the top rated movies of its era. __Woodstock__ was released on March 26th, 1970 and was nominated for two Oscars but won only one. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair was the alpha-concert. It was the one of the best concerts ever, and certainly the best of its time.

Woodstock Woodstock was an opportunity for the youth in the 1960’s to take a step back from all of the conflict that was currently present in the world and have three days of peace through music and art for over 400,000 people. After the event, laws were passed both locally and through the state that ensured nothing like Woodstock would ever happen again. It cost over 2.4 million dollars and was sponsored by four young men who wanted to decide what to do with their lives. Initially, they wanted a party for rock and roll critics and big record company executives. They later decided they wanted to have the biggest rock concert ever and the profits that they made would go towards their own recording studio. The four partners formed an organization called Woodstock Ventures, Inc. They decided on the Mills Industrial Park to have their festival. It was less than a mile from Route 17 and right off Route 211, which was a major local road in New York, providing access to many of the cities in the area. Many of America’s largest bands were invited to come to this event. On the first day, Richie Havens, Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez kicked off the festival. The Second Day, there were performances by Quill, Country Joe McDonald, John B. Sebastian, Keef Hartley Band, Santana, Incredible String Band, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly and The Family Stone, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane. The Third Day, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, Leslie West/Mountain, Ten Years After, The Band, Johnny Winter, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Crosby Stills Nash and Young performed. And on the last day, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha-Na-Na, and Jimi Hendrix ended the festival. These many bands set the tone for the following years towards the beliefs of the youth of the early 70’s.

Online Sources http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/HendrixJimi-Woodstock-lrg.jpg http://www.woodstock69.com/file1.htm [|http://search.ebscohost.com] http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9118596

Print Sources code Pendergast, Sara, Tom. "Woodstock." __Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-bottoms__. Ed. Sara, Tom Pendergast. Farmington Hills: Thomas Gale, 2002. code code "Woodstock." __The Encyclopedia of Popular Music__. Ed. Colin Larkin. London: MUZE, 1992. code