The year was 1969. The dates were August 15th through 18th. In upstate New York, a music festival took place that grew to proportions beyond belief. As the most iconic festival in the history of rock n' roll, the happenings of Woodstock may have taken place years ago, but its legacy has proven to last forever.
The Beginning Of A Legacy
In 1969, a little music festival known as Woodstock took place in Bethel, New York.
Celebrating Peace And Love
The festival was organized to raise money to build a recording studio.
Larger Than Life
Originally planning to sell 186,000 tickets, the festival organizer decided to make it a free event once over 300,000 people ended up arriving. A total of over 500,000 people ended up attending, with another million having to be turned away.
Beyond Comprehension
The event was held on a 600 acre farm owned by Max Yeager, who when asked if his land could be used again for another festival, politely declined.
A Total Mudfest
The festival was marked by rain all weekend, yet festival goers revealed even more in the wet, muddy mess.
Anti-War
The message against the tragedy of war was a main component of the festival.
Defined a Generation
The collection of beatniks, hippies and flower children who attended the event collectively came to define the youth of the ’60s as " ;Woodstock Nation.
A Weekend Of Rock
32 acts were listed to play at the legendary festival, including Joan Baez, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Who. Iron Maiden got stuck at the airport and couldn’t make it.
Unconventional Security
The commune known as Hog Form was hired to form a “Please Force” that was lead by the comic known as Wavy Gravy, who traveled the festival grounds in a Smokey-the-Bear suit.
Janis Joplin
The iconic singer with the raspy vocals was overwhelmed by the crowd and needed a little help to calm her nerves before performing.
Jimi Hendrix
The guitar god actually didn’t take the stage as the closing act until 9 am Monday morning, and despite the fact that many festival goers had already left, he still played to a crowd of over 30,000 people.
Nowhere To Go
The amount of traffic turned the highways into a total parking lot, and performers had to be helicoptered into the event. Many festival-goers simply abandoned their cars.
Grace Slick
The lead singer of the mega-popular band Jefferson Airplane was one of the main attractions of the festival.
Sylvester Stewart
The headman of  ;Sly & The Family Stone put on an electrifying performance and the group was heralded as the best act of the weekend.
Carlos Santana
The legendary performer had only been around a few years when he enchanted the crowds with his music — a feat he continues to do to this day.
Jerry Garcia
It wouldn’t have been a true hippie festival without the man of the hour, lead singer and guitarist for The Grateful Dead.
Differences In Opinion
Despite Governor Nelson Rockefeller declaring the farmland a disaster area due to the major lack of amenities, Time magazine went on to declare it “The greatest peaceful event in history.”
A Festival For All
People of all ages attended the event, and despite the size, there were no reports of violence.
The Greatest Rock N’ Roll Show In History
Although there have been multiple attempts to recreate Woodstock, nothing ever came close to the one and only original that will go down in the history books as the greatest music festival of all time.