Woodstock was the largest and most legendary music festival of all time. What began as a peaceful festival in 1969 turned into a chaotic explosion of music, love, drugs, and anarchy.
Here are 15 shocking, bizarre, and astonishing facts about Woodstock.
1. The festival was originally planned in a small village – until the residents panicked
Woodstock was originally going to take place in Wallkill, New York, but the local population panicked when they heard that hundreds of thousands of hippies would descend on their town.
They blocked the event, forcing the organizers to find a new location just two months before the festival.
2. The organizers expected 50,000 people – but 500,000 showed up
The organizers planned Woodstock for 50,000 attendees, but word-of-mouth caused attendance to explode.
When the festival started, 200,000 people were already present, and eventually half a million showed up.
3. The festival became literally “free” because the fences collapsed
Because far too many people arrived, the entrance fences collapsed on the very first day.
The organizers decided to make Woodstock completely free, turning it into one of the largest spontaneous free festivals in history.
4. There were no decent toilets – and it became a giant mud pit
The organizers arranged far too few sanitary facilities.
With 500,000 people and torrential rains, the festival grounds turned into a muddy chaos, and many people had to relieve themselves in nature.
5. Jimi Hendrix played to an almost empty field
Jimi Hendrix gave a historic closing of Woodstock, with his legendary distorted version of the American national anthem.
But because he played at 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning, almost everyone had already left.
Only a few tens of thousands witnessed the iconic performance live.
6. Janis Joplin and The Grateful Dead were so high their performances were chaotic
Janis Joplin and The Grateful Dead consumed so many drugs that their performances became nearly unplayable.
The Grateful Dead’s set became infamous as they completely lost their timing and ended in a failed jam session.
7. Santana’s guitarist thought his guitar was a snake
Carlos Santana was completely under the influence of LSD during his performance.
He hallucinated that his guitar was a writhing snake and had to fully concentrate to ‘control’ it during the show.
8. Two babies were born at the festival – but their identities remain a mystery
Two births were registered during Woodstock, but the names of the babies were never officially revealed.
No one knows exactly who these ‘Woodstock babies’ are, but they would now be in their fifties.
9. The Who were awakened by an angry hippie who interrupted their set
The Who played a nighttime set, and singer Roger Daltrey was already half asleep before they began.
Midway through their performance, political activist Abbie Hoffman jumped on stage and grabbed a microphone to give a speech.
Guitarist Pete Townshend immediately knocked him off the stage with his guitar.
10. There were three deaths
Three people died during Woodstock:
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A teenager was run over by a tractor while sleeping in a sleeping bag.
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One person choked on their own vomit.
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One person died of a heroin overdose.
Despite the massive attendance, this was a relatively low number of deaths for a festival of that size.
11. Local dairy farmers had to help feed the hungry crowd
The organizers had arranged far too little food.
Local farmers brought thousands of liters of milk and bread to feed the starving hippies.
12. The festival lost 1.3 million dollars
Due to the chaos, free admission, and sky-high cleanup costs, Woodstock lost over 1.3 million dollars.
Only years later, through the sale of the famous documentary Woodstock, was this loss recovered.
13. Jefferson Airplane played their set at 8 a.m.
Jefferson Airplane was delayed all night and only began their set at 8 a.m.
Many in the audience were still half asleep or stoned, making it one of the strangest morning sessions ever.
14. An attempt was made to recreate Woodstock in 1999 – and it ended in total chaos
Woodstock ‘99 was an attempt to recreate the magic of 1969, but it ended in violence, riots, and arson.
The festival was plagued by heatwaves, overpriced water bottles, and sexual assaults, and visitors literally set the grounds on fire.
The biggest and most chaotic festival ever
Woodstock was a unique moment in music history, where peace, music, and total chaos went hand in hand.
What do you think: would you have wanted to be at Woodstock in 1969, or was it just too much anarchy?
