It’s Been 56 Years Since Woodstock: See Rare Photos From the ‘3 Days of Peace and Music’
Take a look behind-the-scenes of the iconic 1969 music festival
When Woodstock 1969 was happening, it was simply a three-day music festival to celebrate peace and music in a time of political disturbance. But the event went on to become a significant cultural moment and one that would be remembered for years to come. Now, it’s been 56 years since its opening day and the countercultural movement still has an impact on fashion, music and festivals to this day.
The festival had a legendary lineup, with musicians including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and so many more that brought them to an even more significant level of fame. Hendrix’s performance, specifically his rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” became an important symbol of counterculture. See the performance below.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at rare photos from Woodstock’s three-day festival and find out exactly why it was such an important moment in popular culture and history.
1. The crowds at the Woodstock festival
The photo above shows the crowd from the first day of the Woodstock Festival on August 15, 1969. The massive crowd was a bit of a surprise as the expected turnout was about 50,000 attendees. However, nearly 400,000 people showed up in Bethel, New York for three days of peace and music. Given that this photo is only the first day of the festival, it’s the number of people only grew over the weekend.
2. A close-up look at Woodstock Festival tickets
This close-up image of one-day passes to Woodstock Festival offers a good look at what it cost to attend. To go to the festival for one day, an attendee only had to be $8, which is an absurdly low price for today’s standards. To compare, a one-day pass to Coachella or another similar music festival begins at around $600. Although the events are significantly different, both are iconic music festivals with extremely different prices.
3. Woodstock’s chaotic turnout
Woodstock was a much more chaotic event than anticipated with almost ten times the amount of attendees showing up for the festival. Given that the turnout was so unexpected, the photo above shows people resting on top of their cars, tents set up on the side of the road and a massive crowd walking down the road.
4. Iconic musical performances
Woodstock was a draw to so many, thanks to the incredible musical lineup they had. The above photo shows Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane during their performance, which was just one of the many iconic moments from the day.
5. Fans watching Woodstock performances
Considering the extreme number of people who attended Woodstock, space was limited, even on a massive 600-acre farm. To get a good view of the stage and performances, people began climbing up on the sound towers to get a better look, which is seen above.
6. Janis Joplin performs
Janis Joplin, who was already a major star in 1969 for her unique vocals and embrace of the counterculture lifestyle, performed at Woodstock on August 17, 1969. Despite her popularity and incredible voice, it wasn’t received well by some critics for her lack of energy and psychedelic rock sound. Watch one of her performances here and see what you think.
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