6 Groovy Facts About Woodstock Music and Art Fair — The Summer of 1969 Festival That Went Down in History
In the summer of 1969, the festival to top all festivals took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York (the festival site was not actually in the town of Woodstock itself). The Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place between August 15 and August 18 and drew crowds of over 400,000. It featured some of the biggest musicians of the decade including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane and The Who, and has gone down as one of the most significant days in pop culture history. If you’re a music lover, there will probably always be a small part of you with “FOMO” regarding these days of peace. Here, take a look at these facts about Woodstock, the festival we love to look back on.
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1. The first performers were stuck in traffic
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Richie Havens took to the Woodstock stage first, but that wasn’t the plan. Sweetwater was actually set to start out the festival, but due to the fact that they were stuck in traffic, Havens performed first in a set that reportedly lasted almost three hours. He even started incorporating Beatles covers into his set. In a similar impromptu moment, Country Joe McDonald of band Country Joe & The Fish wasn’t supposed to perform solo at the festival but took the stage anyway to fill some time while the crowd waited for Santana.
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2. Jimi Hendrix was the headliner, but not many actually saw his performance
Hendrix’s contract stated that he had to be the last performer, and by the time Sunday came around, the lack of organization meant performance times were completely off-schedule. That being said, Hendrix didn’t perform until 9 o’clock Monday morning, at which point many attendees had already departed the festival.
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3. A single-day ticket cost about $7, with a weekend ticket costing $18
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A much cheaper price than the typical festival ticket of today! Not long into the event however, the chaos of the festival made collecting money for tickets nearly impossible, and people were let in for free.
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4. There were a good number of cows in attendance
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Being that the event took place at a dairy farm, owned by farmer Max Yasgur, it’s not surprising that there was a cow or two who decided to partake in the fun. Though efforts were made to keep attendees and animals separate, they eventually mingled just fine.
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5. It has long been rumored that two babies were born at the event
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Many have claimed this to be true, but no proof of the matter has ever actually been found. The mystery remains!
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6. The official soundtrack features a couple on the cover — that stayed together
Nick and Bobbi Ercoline were photographed in a loving embrace at the festival, and the image was used on the official Woodstock album cover. With a little bit of investigating, it turns out the couple had been married since 1971 and stayed married until Bobbi sadly passed away in 2023.
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