Woodstock Festival of 1969

Woodstock Experience
The music festival took place on a 600 acre dairy farm owned by conservative republican Max Yasgur in Bethel, N.Y.. It was also a free event due to the heavy amount of people in the audience. It set the whole mood for Woodstock considering the size of the farm and the and the rural area it was placed. There was a pond nearby the farm which became a popular spot for skinny dipping during the event. With the occasional rain on Friday and violent thunderstorms on Sunday, the concert could not be stopped, it could only make it a much better weekend. Though Woodstock was a three day festival,it felt as if the music performances were endless. With appearances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Creedance Clearwater Revival, The Who, and Santana, to name a few, were quoted as "the most famous event in rock history" by Rolling Stone Magazine (http://www.woodstock.com/1969-festival). The concert started just after 5 p.m. Friday and lasted all night until early Saturday morning with a short break until noon Saturday. The second day brought in the longest line up of the event which carried 10 artists and 101 songs. Food vendors sold burgers, which quickly sold out, hippies from the Hog Farm passed out granola bars, and one lady who lived nearby made thousands of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which were quickly handed out to members of the audience. It was and still is considered the biggest pop culture music event of the decade. Michael Lang who was one of the four men who helped create Woodstock Ventures, Inc.; the main building block of the Woodstock Festival said, "Thats what means the most to me--- the connection to one another felt by all of us who worked on the festival, all those who came to it, and the millions who couldn't be there but were touched by it"(http://www.woodstock.com/1969-festival). Woodstock was a base to Hippie counterculture.

Drugs, Incidents, and Accidents
There was not one report of violence during the three days at Woodstock. However, there were 80 police arrests which were all drug related charges involving LSD amphetamines and heroin. The majority of audience members were avid pot smokers, most with recollecting memories of random pipes being filled by random people and passed down through the audience. After one went out, the cycle of randomness began once again. The Festival created massive traffic jams that held for miles on Route 17B nearing Bethel, N.Y. in Bergen County. It also created extreme shortages of food, water, and medical and sanitary facilities. Since there were many people consuming LSD and other drugs, there was a safe haven for people who had bad trips. The process of helping someone with a bad trip was to give them water and let them know they are having a bad "trip" and it will soon go away. One announcer also warned the audience of taking a brown acid pill that supposedly brought many people to the "safe spot". Much of the help came from volunteers attending the concert themselves. Three accidental deaths occured but were not specified as to what exactly happened to them. It is believed they happened due to overdoses. The estimated cost of the Woodstock Festival was $750,000 which was originally supposed to be covered by ticket fees that were never put in place.