In August of 1969, one of the most celebrated music festivals in history took place in Bethel, New York. This festival was known as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music," or simply Woodstock. The three day festival was all about peace, love, understanding, music, and some serious partying. It was a historic event of the 60’s that changed many peoples view on life and was a big part of what is known as the hippie movement.
At a time when Americans were deeply divided, an unprecedented amount people from across the country gathered in the fields of Bethel to celebrate the "Three Days of Peace and Music." The three day festival was originally designed in order to make money, but that did not end up happening. The promoters only expected a showing of around 100,000 people, with a max of nearly 200,000. Shockingly, that was not the case. There were nearly 500,00 in attendance and because of this, the festival became free. By having so many people in attendance meant that problems were bound to occur. Problems such as traffic jams, lack of food, water supply, sanitation, and medical care all arouse. Although these challenges arouse, they did not stop the people of Woodstock from having fun.
When one thinks of Woodstock, they immediately think of drugs. Marijuana and LSD immediately come to thought as they were the most common drugs used at Woodstock. Although this may be the case, the usage of drugs brought people at Woodstock closer together. By taking something that was socially unacceptable and using it in such a blatant way to promote an even more unacceptable lifestyle, they believed that they had found a way to have fun and become closer together while protesting. Whether they used drugs to promote the peace and happiness, protest, or even just because they enjoyed it, drug usage was a huge part of the hippie sub-culture at Woodstock.
At the Woodstock festival, there were many influential musicians who performed. Musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, and the Grateful Dead all preformed. It was considered a great honor to preform. Some musicians who rejected to show up soon regretted that decision. The Beatles and Bob Dylan are a few that declined the invitation to preform. They never thought that Woodstock would be so big and meaningful. They were wrong..
Woodstock 69 will never be duplicated. It has been tried multiple times, but nothing will ever to compare to the first and only Woodstock. The three days of legendary performances, unimaginable mud, and unforgettable experiences helped the Woodstock Music and Art Fair become a symbol of an entire generation.
http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/museum/festivalhistory.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock_Festival
6 comments:
I did my final paper in U.S. History on the Woodstock! Oh, we have a lot in common Roman haha. Anyway, great job on compressing everything that was going on during Woodstock into a short blog and still keeping me interested. Woodtock shaped and turned music into what it is today, great job Roman!
I was waiting for someone to do Woodstock haha! This is great Roman I've been wanting to learn of Woodstock and some of the life around it but never got actual facts, you doing this blog is great and gives information on a historical time for the musical culture.
Great blog Roman. I have been hearing about woodstock for as long as I can remember. It is a very interesting topic to me. I find it unbelievable that so many people showed up to this 3 day event. Like you said Woodstock was a huge part of the "Hippy Movement". I also find it a shame that The Beatles and Bob Dylan rejected the invitation, but I guess the jokes on them.
Great job,Roman. It is an outstanding post. After I read this blog, I knew more about Woodstock.It is pretty crazy that a musical can last for three days and there are so many people are watching. In Hong Kong, there is no such thing, so the Woodstock is pretty new to me and it is very interesting.
This was really good Roman, I liked learning more then I already knew about Woodstock. It's so crazy to believe how many people were involved in this three day event, and what a big deal it was to some people. The pictures were really cool and showed how many people were really there. I also liked how you started out with a big picture which drew me to reading the article.
Nice summary, and good pictures. But your blog still lacks any hyperlinks. There are also numerous typos. You are getting better at this, but try to maximize the points you can get by studying the rubric.
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