47 years ago today, 400,000 people showed up to a New York farm for the greatest music festival of all time
When residents of Wallkill, New York, denied plans for Woodstock to occur near their town, farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue, offering his land near Bethel at the price of $75,000.
Woodstock was created by the then-novice promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang. Originally, the four had hoped the festival would be a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near Woodstock, New York.
Tickets to the event cost $6.50 a day, and festival organizers told authorities they were expecting around 50,000 people, even when 186,000 tickets had already been sold.
As thousands of people crowded the area, tickets became obsolete, and people wound up inside the festival grounds for free.
Festival activities began August 15, 1969 with a performance by the late singer-songwriter Richie Havens.
Hippie commune Hog Farm was tasked with providing free food for the Woodstock attendees. However, due to the huge number of attendees and lack of resources, a US Amy helicopter was assigned to deliver food to the grounds.
Hog Farm was also assigned with overseeing security at the festival. They named their security team "Please Force," a nod to their non-violent intentions.
Here, three attendees relax in a grass hut. The sign above their heads reads: "Have a marijuana."
The influx of festival-goers caused a massive traffic jam that was announced across local radio stations, down to WNEW-FM in Manhattan.
It began raining the first night of the festival, and the bad weather continued throughout the weekend.
But it didn't kill the vibes. Here, attendees leave the grounds after a rainy night.
The rain created massive mud puddles, and many festival-goers found themselves caked in dirt.
Yasgur's farm was left in shambles. Here, attendees walk across the debris-ridden landscape after the festival had wrapped up.
A Bethel local sweeps trash in front of her home as festival-goers make their way out of town.
Despite the on-and-off bad weather, lack of food, and other general resources, Woodstock lives on in history as one of the defining moments of the 1960s, and of the generation that made it happen.
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