Woodstock festival opens in Bethel, New York | August 15, 1969
By: Malcolm Canmore (HISTORY)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Getty ImagesPublished: November 13, 2009Last Updated: August 11, 2026
On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.
Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists' colony was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more.
Woodstock Almost Never Happened
Show: HISTORY Honors 250
The iconic music festival on August 15th, 1969, brought huge crowds and groundbreaking performances. But it almost never happened.
Stream Now0:57m watch
Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.
Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around 200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night.
Though Woodstock had left its promoters nearly bankrupt, their ownership of the film and recording rights more than compensated for the losses after the release of a hit documentary film in 1970. Later music festivals inspired by Woodstock's success failed to live up to its standard, and the festival still stands for many as an example of America's 1960s youth counterculture at its best.
Two three-day admission tickets for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York. Blank Archives/Getty Images
Hippies walk along roads choked with traffic on the way to the large rock concert in August, 1969. Occasionally they are given rides by likeminded motorists. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Richie Havens, who wasn't scheduled to open the festival, ended up having to play its first three hours because so many people were running late. Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
Fans climb a scaffold to get a better view. Alvan Meyerowitz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Singer Grace Slick performs with the American rock group Jefferson Airplane at Woodstock music festival. Getty Images
Joe Cocker performing at the Woodstock music festival. Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Shirtless male drummer & dress-wearing female flutist jamming during Woodstock. Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Janis Joplin in the mud at Woodstock. Elliott Landy/Magnum Photos
Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend of British rock band The Who on stage at the Woodstock music festival. Archive Photos/Getty Images
Attendees had to cope with mud, rain and minimal food and water. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Festival-goers withstood a lot of rain to listen to the acts at Woodstock. Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Jimi Hendrix performing at Woodstock. Larry Morris/The New York Times/Redux
Refuse overflows a trash bin as the band Aquarian Rock Explosion ends early on August 18. An estimated half a million people descended on the private farm site for three days of music, drugs, rain and mud. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Two young men in the boot of a car after hitching a lift home from Woodstock. Three Lions/Getty Images
Also on This Day in History
Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 15th
1057 -- King Macbeth is killed by Malcolm Canmore
At the Battle of Lumphanan, King Macbeth of Scotland is slain by Malcolm Canmore, whose father, King Duncan I, was murdered by Macbeth 17 years earlier. Macbeth was a grandson of King Kenneth II and also had a claim to the throne through his wife, Gruoch, who was the granddaughter of Kenneth III—the Scottish king […]
1899 -- Henry Ford leaves Edison to start automobile company
On August 15, 1899, in Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford resigns his position as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company's main plant in order to concentrate on automobile production. Henry Ford left his family's farm in Dearborn, Michigan, at age 16 to work in the machine shops of Detroit. In 1888, he married Clara Bryant, […]
1914 -- Panama Canal open to traffic
The Panama Canal, the American-built waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is inaugurated with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship. The rush of settlers to California and Oregon in the mid 19th century was the initial impetus of the U.S. desire to build […]
1914 -- Japan gives ultimatum to Germany
On August 15, 1914, the government of Japan sends an ultimatum to Germany, demanding the removal of all German ships from Japanese and Chinese waters and the surrender of control of Tsingtao—the location of Germany's largest overseas naval bases, located on China's Shantung Peninsula—to Japan by noon on August 23. The previous August 6, the […]
1947 -- India and Pakistan win independence
The Indian Independence Bill, which created the independent nations of India and Pakistan, came into force on August 15, 1947, ending 200 years of British rule over India and Pakistan.
1968 -- Heavy fighting erupts in and around the DMZ
Heavy fighting intensifies in and around the DMZ, as South Vietnamese and U.S. troops engage a North Vietnamese battalion. In a seven and a half hour battle, 165 enemy troops were killed. At the same time, U.S. Marines attacked three strategic positions just south of the DMZ, killing 56 North Vietnamese soldiers.
1979 -- "Apocalypse Now" released in theaters
Apocalypse Now, the acclaimed Vietnam War film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, opens in theaters around the United States on August 15, 1979. The film, inspired in part by Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, among other sources, told the story of an Army captain (played by Martin Sheen) and crew of men who […]
2006 -- Wife of slain minister released from jail
Mary Winkler, who confessed to fatally shooting her pastor husband Matthew Winkler in his sleep at their church parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee, is released from jail on $750,000 bail. Winkler was later convicted in his killing, but served only a short time in prison. On March 22, 2006, church members found 31-year-old Matthew Winkler in […]
2021 -- Kabul falls to the Taliban after U.S. withdrawal
On August 15, 2021—just two weeks before U.S. troops were set to officially withdraw from Afghanistan—Taliban leaders enter the capital city of Kabul and sweep back into power with little resistance. The Afghan government collapses, the country's president Ashraf Ghani flees, and many desperate Afghan civilians are left behind. The withdrawal ended a two-decade war […]
Remember the Golden Rule, be a good human. We're here to relax and chat, so let's keep it civil and fun. Please, remember to quote the person(s) you are replying to as a courtesy so everyone can follow the conversation. Grossly derogatory comments, blatantly inflammatory comments, excessive trolling, mean-spirited taunting and insults, scamming, spamming, and off topic comments may be removed in compliance with the site's Terms of Service and the Code of Conduct. The moderators have the final word and may remove comments at their judgement (or lack thereof).
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Comment at your own discretion. The owners of the site, the owner of this group, and the moderators are not responsible or liable for any stupid thing you do. You break it, you buy it. No shirt, no shoes, no service. Don't poke the bear. Mind the gap.
Tags
Who is online
93 visitors
Part myth. Part legend. But real history.
I ALMOST went to it - already arranged to take a few friends with me, but if I recall there was a prediction of rain so I didn't go. However, I did attend another iconic festival - the Newport Folk Festival wherein Bob Dylan went electric.
As did I!
I had friends who went-- they invited me to come with them but I decided not to go.
I had also lived in the East Village--- a few short blocks from The Fillmore East. One night Janice Joplin was to be there (I was a big fan of hers). Friends were going, but I decided not to go, so I missed that,
I did however did go (complete with a roll of toilet paper) with a few friends to see The Rocky Horror show at midnight in that area. Also went to see The New York Dolls at CBGB's before it was called CBGBs (at the time it was called Hilly's).
And some friends invited me to go to the famous march on Washington (where MLK delivered his famous "I Have a Dream Speech)" but I didn't as I had already had a brief conversation with him from about 6 feet away-- didn't feel the need to see him from so far away...in a YUGE crowd!
IIRC many of his fans weren't too happy with that (at least at first?)
FWIW I also met Jack Kerouac (who was quite obnoxious actually)!
But based on our past conversations I never met nearly as many famous musicians at that era as you have!
A tad too young In was in 69, but I did make the next two "Woodstocks", and i'm sure not exactly likethis one, though I did have some crazy asz adventures in 1994 and 1999. Crazy asz adventures where large groups of locals all gathered when at each show. The 99 Fires and riots were fckn A Amazing, and the promotors deserved WTF happened, as their greed was greater than concert goers basic required need!
I just googled The Rocky Horror show and found this little tidbit:
Has anyone here ever been to The Rocky Horror show?
Yes, there were boos and whistles when he started to play Maggie's Farm.
I was deeply involved with folk music back in the 60s and early 70s. I was a director of the Mariposa Folk Festival. We even published a folk music newsmagazine called HOOT Magazine.
Not I.
If Woodstock happened today it would be four days long and a ticket for all four days would cost 800 dollars.
I think you're right!
(And the other part to that: people would still go-- and still it would be sold out!)
As it was 27 years ago, I sorta can't exactly recall, but I believe tickets were $200 plus per, and food and drink was ridiculous, and you weren't allowed to reenter if you left. Asn i recall, a bottle of water was like $5 per. I had rented a Lincoln Town Car that fit over twenty cases of beer with ice. It was ht too! Went through a full tank of gas at camp site running engine for AC. The porta potties were absolutely disgusting and overflowing Saturday night and worse Sunday. Concert goers got pisssed, and rightfully so. This led to them having to allow us to leave and reenter, and finally the burning trailer RIOT, that was FCKN A FUN
I'm not sorry I missed it . . .
wpouldn't have, for the world. 'Had an awesome time that i may elaborate on later, as chores before more storms must come to fruition