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Rare Woodstock Pictures Reveal What Really Happened in The Legendary 60’s

Hunger or Blazing Sun, What’s More Painful?

Everything was laid in such a haphazard manner that tracking down things, especially supplies, became an issue. There were no queues, uncertain walking, no seating pattern, and of course, no cell phones. All these things added up to the human mess that made it impossible to make your way back to where you were.

Insanity here could mean a lack of food and accommodation. People were forced to pitch their tents in the field itself as going out was not the option because the roads were all jammed due to the ingress of people into the festival. Despite all the announcements, people were not refraining from reaching the venue.

…Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair

The flower crown remains a classic and serves as the best companion to attend a festival event today. A crown made up of freshly plucked flowers adds up to the charm and completes the overall look. The love for nature and accessories extracted from it can naturally beautify her, and that is precisely what’s on display.

Tiaras are usually worn by queens and women who win beauty pageants. Hence, the girl seen in the image shall not wait to participate in a pageant and be the queen of her world at this moment.  However, the flower species could not be figured out.

All Set to Raid the World

The loose flowing hair in these pictures is symbolic of the liberty and freedom that the youngsters experienced in the 60s. In the candid photo, the girls seem interrupted in the middle of their bike ride to pose for an image.

It was young people like these who filled the playground of the Woodstock event as the event is known for charging no entry fees. The bike enthusiast girls and many more like them contributed to flocking the event. The idea of the event was to earn money initially, but when the grounds were flooded with people, the event was made entirely free.

Music that Left Them All Smiling

Woodstock was primarily a musical event and had attracted an audience of 400,000. Thirty-two acts were performed even after sporadic rain. Pictured here are members of the band Jefferson Airplane, with singer Grace Slick in the center dressed in white.

It seems like their music had an essence of comedy and sarcasm that left the viewers in splits. The smiles on each of their faces are evident that the event was a success story in delivering what it wanted “peace and music” .Long hair also seems to be an everyday hairstyle in the 60s. Almost everyone seems to embrace those dreads.

Draped in All Leather

What took place 52 years ago still seems classic as it had registered itself in history. The festival site is now home to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which hosts concerts all year round.

The girl in the picture is seen wearing a leather top with a headband that also seems to be leather. Her shoulder band appears to be carved out of wood. Leather is the current fetish for all the fashion influencers, not only for bags but also for apparel. But the image clearly shows that it is a vintage concept that is being redone.

Boarding the Bus

Even after the massive substance consumption openly, there were no arrests made. The festival glorified all the teenage and youngsters-related stigmas in the most fantastic way possible. The people in the image have climbed up the roof of the bus to witness the fair.

The occupants consist of couples and solos who were sitting and enjoying the show unfolding in front of them. Also, the flowers and the butterflies painted on the roof appear to be custom-made to match the event’s vibe. It seems like all the men decided unanimously to let go of their top wears as most of these can be seen bare-chested.

Need Some Space

The event managers did not expect the event to be so massive. It was believed that they would be able to manage in the given space. However, the event became a magnum opus, and people occupied wherever and whatever they found to sit. Also, with a massive crowd like this comes a shortage of food, water, and medical supplies. In addition, there were scarce bathrooms.

While the attendees managed to keep up with the ambiance, the aftermath had images of littered streets and roads. There was a nuisance created on the main roads, and the traffic was blocked. Well, whatever it may be, the event will always be remembered as a success story.

Keeping it Candid

After the event caught pace and limelight, its coverage became important. The event’s significance was reinforced in a 1970 American documentary titled Woodstock, receiving the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

The subject in the picture made it to the documentary, proving that she is being directed by someone to follow a set of instructions to get her involved in the event recorded. The documentary is one of the only recorded pieces of evidence of this massive fair. Amongst the 32 performers at the event, only a handful was featured in the documentary.

The Event was Jam-Packed

The image is an accurate depiction of the kind of event that it was. The event made all the people happy and made them forget the hardships that the time had on the platter. In short, the party never stopped at Woodstock, with music going on all day and night for the entirety of the festival.

Strangers bumping into each other and relishing the event together was a common visual there. There were also people from the elder age groups who manifested their presence at the event. The flock of crowds was rushing towards the venue to hear the rock and roll.

Non-Entertained Camping

The event venue became a temporary refuge for the attendees as they chose to pitch their tent on the venue itself rather than going back. This was never the plan and was not something that the organizers predicted. Bethel created a massive traffic jam. Routes were being diverted. Announcements were made on radio and televisions that helped to stop more people from reaching the venue.

The field where the Woodstock fair happened has initially been a dairy farm. The contract with the festival organizers stated that he would be paid $10,000 to use the land. Unfortunately, the damages to the property cost him more than $50,000.

Happy Ending!

It can be derived from the picture that space was a significant issue at the Woodstock Fair. People adjusted themselves wherever they could. Michael Lang, Artie Kornfeld and John. P. Roberts, the three main organizers, initially estimated their total expenses to be around $750,000. But, by the end of the festival, they ended up spending $2.5 million.

In 2017, the event site became listed on the National Register Of Historic Places. The event had crowds flowing from all walks of life to glimpse their favorite performers. Amongst the chaos, the guests managed to have fun with the August heat and intermittent showers.

Bird’s Eye View of the Crowd

Numerous photographers and filmmakers appeared at the venue once the event was announced to be a blockbuster. One such photographer from the LIFE magazine by the name of John Dominis stated that he had a great time at the event. Although the event had people younger than him, he still felt like their peer. The image may be in grayscale, but it indeed was a colorful event.

The image may appear a bit chaotic, but the reality was that the event was remarkably peaceful. Although substances were being consumed, very few fatalities were recorded which were quickly resolved.

Managed to Feed 400,000 People

Indeed, the task of feeding more than 400,000 people sounds like a nightmare when the arrangements were made only to serve a crowd of 200,000. The queues for food were long, and the supply was less. People went on to burn two of the concession stands as they were angry and starving.

The situation was later combated with people pouring in food donations that got airlifted to the venue. The food included 10,000 sandwiches, water, fruits, and tetra-packed goods. There were volunteers from the crowd itself who served the food to keep the event flow intact. Reportedly, no one starved during the event.

A Huge Success for the Founders

These four men handled Woodstock right from its inception. There were management flaws and an unruly crowd, but they kept their bond and strategies strong to face every possible difficulty. There were food, medical supply, and traffic-related issues but what went non disrupted was the musical performances and the 24-hour live music.

The event’s core was so lively that people forgot all the hardships involved in between those three days. Joel Rosenman, John. P. Roberts, Artie Kornfeld, and Michael Lang are the names of the boys who made history with this three-day fair that took place after many planning changes.

The Owners of the Land

The ground where the event took place was originally a dairy farm spread across 600-acre of land owned by an American farmer Max Yasgur and his wife. On the third day of the event, Max addressed the crowd saying, “If we join them, we can turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a hope for a brighter and more peaceful future,”

Yasgur was amongst those individuals who motivated the crowd, and the spectators cheered his speeches immensely. After the event, Yasgur received the love of the attendees in the form of gifts, flowers, and letters to allow the farm’s use.

A Red Alert for Health Provisions

The parents and grandparents were infuriated after they saw their children eating from trash cans. The food that they consumed was raw chopped vegetables and leftovers. This food is something that no one deserves, even if they were under the influence of substances.

The girl in the image seems to hide her face from the camera intentionally or unintentionally; still, the picture appears disturbing. The health department was all set to take in cases of food poisoning as the aftermath of the event resulted in substance overdose cases. Moreover, the place was never given back for the revival of the festival.

The Event was More than Just the Music

The Vietnam War and the political unrest in the U.S. had already kept the Americans engaged and stressed. The event came as a sigh of relief and as a hope for a better and secure future. After a point, people started using their clothes to cover themselves at night. Leaving after the end of a day and returning the following day was difficult and nearly impossible.

The unpreparedness came as an alarm not only for the organizers but also for the entire city. Racial discrimination was at its peak in the U.S. Still; people made their way to the gathering.

Hunger or Blazing Sun, What’s More Painful?

Everything was laid in such a haphazard manner that tracking down things, especially supplies, became an issue. There were no queues, uncertain walking, no seating pattern, and of course, no cell phones. All these things added up to the human mess that made it impossible to make your way back to where you were.

Insanity here could mean a lack of food and accommodation. People were forced to pitch their tents in the field itself as going out was not the option because the roads were all jammed due to the ingress of people into the festival. Despite all the announcements, people were not refraining from reaching the venue.

Kids Were Tagged Along

Well, an event mentioned in its description that it’s going to house thousands of substance consumers. How on earth does it manage to allow children to enter? The ambiance was not suitable for children. Even though the picture depicts them enjoying themselves, just their presence in the event is horrifying.

Additionally, the lack of food and medical supplies and a crowd can convert into a stampede at any time. There were not enough toilets, and the rain never stopped making the field all wet and muddy, implying that defecating was not a difficult thing as nobody could figure out the difference between mud and…

Locals were Bothered for Almost a Week

Most of the performers arrived at the festival via helicopters as the road leading to Bethel, and the venue’s surrounding area covered cars, mini trucks, and buses. The attendees arrived five days before the concert began.

Hundreds of Volkswagen buses occupied the roads and were parked there only until the culmination of the event. The locals, especially the elderly, were adversely affected by this as they could not commute or go out for work. After the event began, there were several announcements on radio and television not to attend the festival anymore as it had already surpassed its expected strength.

A Highly-Acclaimed Documentary

The 1970 documentary Woodstock that was shot during the festival remains one of the very few testimonies of the massive event. The flick was directed by Michael Wadleigh and was edited by seven editors including Martin Scorsese. The image is from the making of the film, and the young Martin Scorsese can be seen on the extreme right wearing a headset.

Soon after its release, the film traveled to almost all the major film festivals and received an Oscar Award for best documentary feature. Woodstock also went to the Cannes Film Festival but was screened there and could not enter the competition.

Woodstock Cannot Be Replicated

The massive success of the 1969 event generated curiosity amongst all the potential organizers, and they tried to create the same magic with their event ideas. Some organizers had gone on to the extent of approaching Max Yasgur for the same venue by sending him gifts and letters, but Max never gave his land ever again for any event.

In 1979, 1989, and 1999 several attempts were made to recreate the magical event, but no event could create that effect. The 1999 festival ended in disaster as riots and violence invoked, leading to people blazing containers and concession stands.

Not for War, But for Peace

The smile on their face is a sigh of relief for all the guests at the event. They are amongst those who made sure that the peaceful event did not end in starvation. The food supplies were airlifted to the fair venue, and volunteers like them had taken up the responsibility to carry food, water, and essentials.

The festival’s mood was anti-war, but the situation that arose was war-like as it had people stuck at one place waiting for a meal. While they were distributing food, chaos occurred, leading to an announcer addressing the crowd saying, “They are with us, man, they are not against us,”

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