Festival of Woodstock

The Festival of Woodstock ( Woodstock Music and Art Festival ) is a concert of music rock'n'roll, organized 15 with the August 18th 1969, in Bethel with the the United States, close to Woodstock (State of New York). This festival, planned for: 50000 spectators and who accommodated some more: 450000 constitutes the paroxysm of the culture Hippie of the Années 1960. __TOC

Genesis

To organize this festival is the idea of two people: Artie Kornfeld, young vice-president of Capitol Records and Michael Lang, young person hippie who organized the Miami Pop festival , which joined together: 40000 people. Required funds (: 500000 dollars) are brought by John Roberts and Joel Rosenman who passed an advertisement in The NewYork Times: “Young men with an unlimited capital seek interesting investment appropriatenesses and proposals for a business”.

Envisaged for: 50000 people, it is with Woodstock, in the State of New York which the concert must be held. The city, considered as very open with respect to the artistic medium, however refuses to accommodate it. After fears on its maintenance, the festival is finally placed at Bethel, on the ground of a farmer, max Yasgur, which it rents: 50000 dollars. The name (more carrying) of “Woodstock” is preserved.

An exceeded organization

“ Three days of peace and music. Hundreds of hectares to be traversed. Walk hanging three days without seeing a skyscraper or a red light. Make steal a kite. Be made bronze. Cook yourself your meals and breathes of the fresh air ”.

This publicity did not envisage nor the number of spectators (evaluated with: 450000), neither the colossal congestions which resulted from this, neither rain, nor mud. The programming was disturbed: Richie Havens opened the festival in the place of the Sweetwater group, blocked in circulation; the artists who could not reach the site there were finally brought in the helicopter of the US Army. Those were also used to provide for the needs for crowd out of water, food and drugs. At the end of the first day, when the barriers which delimited the site had disappeared, the organizers decided to return the free access of it.

After the festival

The festival was the culminating point of the Contre-culture Années 1960 and culture Hippie. The area was shortly after declared disaster area. No violence was however reported and the chief of the local police noted: “We had less troubles with these 450.000 young people than with the ordinary holiday makers”.

Initially, and because of the big number of people who entered free, the festival made enormously lose money with its organizers but, following the sales of the recordings of the festival (audio and video), it became profit. Indeed, if Woodstock is the important point of the counter-culture and anti-capitalism, reality caught up with the organizers who had to resell the rights to Warner to settle their debts.

For 13 years in the town of St-Éphrem in Bauce in Quebec, there has been a festival named Woodstock in Beauce. At each year this festival hippie takes place.

Works

The festival gave place, in 1970, with a documentary film, realized by Michael Wadleigh assisted Martin Scorsese, also for the assembly.

There was also triple album ( Woodstock ) published on the occasion (republished in double CD) as well as an double album ( Woodstock two ) (republished in double CD). For the 25 years of the festival, a quadruple album (out of CD) was published, with a certain number of news.

In addition to the edition of 1969, two other editions of the festival were held in 1994 (at the time of the 25 years of the first festival) and in 1999 (at the time of the 30 years of the first festival).

Artists present

See also: Songs played Woodstock

Anecdotes

  • the festival was paying in its first opening hours, before being transformed into completely free giant gathering. The external enclosure did not resist crowd.

  • The town of Woodstock was very attended by the artists, such as Bob Dylan (which did not take part in the edition of 1969);

  • Iron Butterfly which was envisaged with the program could not go on the site because its members were blocked with the airport.

External bonds

  • complete Article with French references by Verboo
  • The " Official" Keef Hartley Fanpage
  • the site of a French fan
  • the site of the group Woodstock Generation, which takes again the large standards of the years 70

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