American music festival [1969]
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Also known as: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair
Written by
Ed Ward
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: •Article History
Woodstock Music and Art Fair
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- In full:
- The Woodstock Music and Art Fair
- Date:
- August 15, 1969 - August 17, 1969
- Location:
- New York
- United States
- Bethel
- Participants:
- Joan Baez
- the Band
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Grateful Dead
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jefferson Airplane
- Janis Joplin
- Ravi Shankar
- Sly and the Family Stone
- the Who
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Top Questions
What was Woodstock?
What was Woodstock?
Woodstock was the most famous of the 1960s rock festivals. Its full name was The Woodstock Music and Art Fair. It took place on a farm property in Bethel, New York, August 15–18, 1969. Woodstock was organized by four inexperienced promoters who managed to sign rock acts that included Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, and the Grateful Dead.
What musical acts performed at Woodstock?
What musical acts performed at Woodstock?
Woodstock featured a who’s who of 1960s rock acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe and the Fish, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Band, Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, and Joe co*cker.
How many people attended Woodstock?
How many people attended Woodstock?
Although a few tickets were sold, some 400,000 people showed up at Woodstock. Many demanded free entry, which they got due to virtually nonexistent security.
What movie is based on the Woodstock festival?
What movie is based on the Woodstock festival?
Woodstock (1970) is a documentary film made by Michael Wadleigh film based on the Woodstock festival. The film became a smash hit.
Is there a museum dedicated to the Woodstock festival?
Is there a museum dedicated to the Woodstock festival?
The Museum at Bethel Woods, a multimedia exhibit space attached to a performing arts center, opened in 2008, with the stated mission of preserving the original festival site and educating visitors about the music and culture of the Woodstock era.
Woodstock, the most famous of the 1960s rock festivals, held on a farm property in Bethel, New York, August 15–18, 1969. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was organized by four inexperienced promoters who nonetheless signed a who’s who of current rock acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, and Country Joe and the Fish.
The festival began to go wrong almost immediately, when the towns of both Woodstock and Wallkill, New York, denied permission to stage it. (Nevertheless, the name Woodstock was retained because of the cachet of hipness associated with the town, where Bob Dylan and several other musicians were known to live and which had been an artists’ retreat since the turn of the century.) Ultimately, farmer Max Yasgur made his land available for the festival. Few tickets were sold, but some 400,000 people showed up, mostly demanding free entry, which they got due to virtually nonexistent security. Rain then turned the festival site into a sea of mud, but somehow the audience bonded—possibly because large amounts of marijuana and psychedelics were consumed—and the festival went on.
Although it featured memorable performances by Crosby, Stills and Nash (performing together in public for only the second time), Santana (whose fame at that point had not spread far beyond the San Francisco Bay area), Joe co*cker (then new to American audiences), and Hendrix, the festival left its promoters virtually bankrupt. They had, however, held onto the film and recording rights and more than made their money back when Michael Wadleigh’s documentary film Woodstock (1970) became a smash hit. The legend of Woodstock’s “Three Days of Peace and Music,” as its advertising promised, became enshrined in American history, at least partly because few of the festivals that followed were as star-studded or enjoyable.
A 1994 festival on the same site was better organized and more successful financially, if less legendary. In 1999 a third festival was marred by a small riot. The Museum at Bethel Woods, a multimedia exhibit space attached to a performing arts centre, opened in 2008, with the stated mission of preserving the original festival site and educating visitors about the music and culture of the Woodstock era.
Ed Ward
