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What Was the Original Woodstock Really Like
Oct 31, 2025
In the peace- and love-themed summer of '69, giant music festivals became a standard event for the younger generation to experience rock-and-roll, hallucinogens, and the predictable chaos from cramming thousands of intoxicated people into a relatively confined area. One of these festivals, the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, would be cemented as one of the most famous music festivals in history.
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In the summer of 69, giant music festivals became a standard event for the younger generation to experience rock and roll, hallucinogens, and the chaos of cramming thousands of intoxicated people into a relatively confined area
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One of these festivals, the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, would be cemented as the most famous music festival in history
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Today, we're going to take a look at what the original Woodstock was really like
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Woodstock got its name because the promoters initially hoped to find a venue for the festival
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in or near Rustic Woodstock, New York, a small town several hours north of New York City
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There was just one problem, though. Local authorities refused to issue permits not
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only in Woodstock, but also in the nearby town of Saugerties. Negotiations began with the town
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of Walkill, and while the 300-acre site was leased, local opposition eventually prompted
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the town's zoning board to ban the venture. With less than six weeks remaining before the August
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15th concert, promoter Michael Lang received an offer to rent a 30-acre run-down motel area
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in White Lake, a tiny village in the town of Bethel. When Lang realized the motel area was
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essentially a swamp, a local real estate agent took him instead to a 600-acre dairy farm owned
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by a man named Max Yazger. The land was a natural bowl that led down to a small pond and seemed a
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perfect setting for what Lang had in mind. The land was leased, and despite some opposition
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from the officials in Bethel, the concert was on. The stage construction began
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Despite already having sold hundreds of thousands of tickets, Michael Lang maintained throughout
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negotiations that the event was intended for no more than 50,000 people. The first logistical
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problem ensued when the small upstate New York roads could not handle the resulting traffic
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At its longest, the traffic jam on Bethel's Highway 17B stretched for 20 miles. Concert
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goers faced with a total standstill did the most logical thing under the circumstances
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They abandoned their cars and began to walk to the festival site. The New York State police
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however, were not so happy about the situation. So the man quickly shut down two exits of the New
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York State Thruway to discourage additional vehicles. Heavy traffic affected the start time of the concert
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which was scheduled to begin at 3 PM with the band Sweetwater. However, the group, equipment and all
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was among those stuck in the traffic jam. Promoter Lang talked Richie Havens into appearing
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hours after the deadline, as he was the only musician available. Havens attempted to end his set several times
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but he was repeatedly told to keep playing as there were no other acts ready to perform
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For his final tune and seventh encore, he merely improvised using the word freedom
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This would become the theme song for the rest of Haven career When Haven passed away in 2013 by his request his ashes were scattered at the Woodstock site
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By the time Richie Havens was finally allowed to stop, Sweetwater had finally made it
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Thanks to a hastily acquired helicopter, they began playing at approximately 6.15 PM
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Next was a Hindu monk, the Swami Satchidanan, who was forever afterward referred to in the media
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as the Woodstock Guru. At 10 p.m., Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar took stage
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He brought with him the first of the weekend's torrential thunderstorms. It would turn the entire area into a sea of mud
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Concertgoer and journalist Hendrik Hertzberg, initially excited to have gotten a decent spot in proximity to the stage
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described the result in The New Republic. Our sleeping bags and clothes got hopelessly soaked and muddied
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Our spot was right next to a sort of aisle, a thick, slippery brown river of boots and muck
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According to Hertzberg, while he was trying to sleep, a constant, never-ending stream of people moved back and forth
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all night long, without cease. Their feet sloshed and stomped and slammed a few inches from our heads
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Security at Woodstock was supposed to be provided by off-duty New York City police officers
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But only days before the concert, the NYPD deliberately reminded its employees
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that off-duty employment was prohibited. Since that fell through, the only police presence was local forces from surrounding areas
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and they spent most of their time attempting to keep the access routes as orderly as possible
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Arrests for drug possession were non-existent. Within the concert grounds itself, all sorts of narcotics were openly sold and traded
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with LSD and marijuana being the most prevalent substances. A massive cloud of puff-puff smoke was perceptible for three days
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and numerous smoke camps were erected where people hung out and shared Fatty J's with each other
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Official concession stands were out of food by late Friday night. The concessionaire was an
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entity entitled Food for Love, which was a last-minute hire after corporate entities like
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Nathan's Hot Dogs and Restaurant Associates declined. Food for Love was overwhelmed by demand
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and began charging $1 per hot dog. For comparison, a typical price for a hot dog in the real world at
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the time was just 25 cents. With huge lines and long waits, ultimately, some festival goers decided
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it would make sense to burn down the concession stands, which unremarkably didn't improve the
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situation. The Hog Farm Collective famously began cooking and distributing various granola and grain
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based foods, but that required frequently leaving a tent or blanket, something many were reluctant to
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due. While some accounts say the reports of rampant sex and nudity at Woodstock were exaggerated
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many others said they were shocked at the lack of inhibition that was on display
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Walter Mills was a 19 recent high school graduate when he got to Woodstock and told Newsday he couldn believe what he was seeing According to Mills there were all these people running around naked and swimming naked in
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this muddy water. I remember looking out of our tent and there was this couple who just did it right there
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on the ground in front of us. I didn't know what to do. The woman from that couple later approached Mills, and though still naked, she started
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to casually make conversation. Mills later recalled, I think I needed a shovel to get my jaw off the ground
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That was not an isolated incident. 21-year-old Randy Holliday told the Fayetteville Observer
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The nudity was just a natural thing in that setting. There was a real kinship
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You certainly felt like you were part of something. I felt like it was a very sincere emotional bond with the generation at the time
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I think skinny dipping is just beautiful if you want to do it, if you can do it
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One uniform aspect of Woodstock was the quality of the music. The lineup included legendary rock acts like The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, The Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and The Grateful Dead, among many others
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However, getting to the show was no easier for the performers than it was for the audience
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In fact, because of the traffic problems, the promoters eventually had to obtain helicopters to fly in musical acts
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But even with all the logistical issues and traffic jams, only two originally contracted
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bands failed to appear at Woodstock. The Jeff Beck Group, which featured a then-relatively-unknown singer named Rod Stewart, didn't show
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But they had a pretty good excuse. They broke up just days before the festival
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Iron Butterfly, whose Inigata De Vida was one of the most popular albums at the time
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was also slated to appear. However, according to concert producer John Morris, they demanded helicopters be ready
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to fly them onto the site and then take them out immediately after their performance. Since the
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festival couldn't arrange that, Iron Butterfly had to be scratched from the lineup. The Woodstock
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ethos had always been described as an environment where hundreds of thousands of people came together
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in a spontaneous moment of nonviolence and brotherhood. Accounts of sharing whatever food
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alcohol, water, clothing, blankets, dope, and affection are too commonplace to be dismissed
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But while that attitude may have been common among the fans, things were a little different
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for the professional musicians who had been hired to play. In fact, several of the performers and their management began to adopt a hard-knuckle approach
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to the concert promoters after sensing the chaotic lack of organization might extend itself
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to payment. The Who, The Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin told the promoters only hours before they
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were scheduled to play that they would no longer accept checks drawn from the promoters
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corporation. They wanted cash. The promoters had to resort to one of their banking contacts
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in the area, a man named Charlie Prince, who worked at the Sullivan County National Bank
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At midnight on Saturday he was woken out of bed got on a helicopter to his office and then went to the site with enough money and cashier checks to keep the performers happy Promoters had the most
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difficulty signing Jimi Hendrix to perform at Woodstock. They capped their fee for any single
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artist at $15,000. But by 1969, Jimi Hendrix was already receiving six figures for festival
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performances. His fee is rumored to have been anywhere between $18,000 and $26,000, as much as
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three times what some of the other major acts were paid, which easily made him the highest-paid
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performer at the show. Promoters also wanted to put Hendrix on at midnight on Saturday. However
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they were told Hendrix would only perform last, and they reluctantly agreed. This was supposed to
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be sometime on Sunday evening, but with the rain, logistical issues, and other unforeseen delays
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Hendrix did not appear until 9 a.m. on Monday morning. By then, the crowd had dwindled to as
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low as 30,000 people. His set lasted two hours, the longest of his career, and included the
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legendary Star Spangled Banner as part of a 22-minute medley. He even included a very rare
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encore. Critics labeled the performance as uneven, but it certainly made an impression on those who
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remained to see it. According to Michael Wadlay, director of the Woodstock film, it was an amazing
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version. I looked out with one eye and saw people grabbing their heads so ecstatic, so stunned and
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moved. A lot of people holding their breath, including me. Because Woodstock wasn't televised
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and much of the national media had already left the site, it wasn't until the release of the
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documentary that Hendrix's rendition of the anthem became a classic. Both praised and damned
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it is still critically discussed and widely played today. Hendrix's perspective on the
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moment was typically succinct. I thought it was beautiful. But then there you go
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Almost all eyewitness accounts of the Woodstock experience recall nonviolence, sharing, and brotherhood
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Woodstock's legacy of peace and love was not just a romanticized memory of a music festival
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It was the way it happened. Even the police were impressed. The chief of the nearby Monticello Police Department stated in the New York Times
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notwithstanding their personality, their address, and their ideas, They were and they are the most courteous, considerate, and well-behaved group of kids I have ever been in contact with in my 24 years of police work
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Carl Loberfield was a 15-year-old who went to Woodstock with his fellow summer campers
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When his parents, who had seen harrowing news accounts of traffic jams, hippies, and rampant drug use, called the camp and insisted the campers return home
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Loberfield calmed them down by supplying a perspective that still resonates today
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According to an MSNBC piece from 2009, Loberfield recalled, I was raised not to trust people and to be wary of strangers
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And here were 500,000 of them who were being so nice and so happy and just listening to the music
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It really gave me a different perspective of humanity. Far out, man
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#Rock Music