On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opened on
a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New
York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and
Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise
funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near
the town of Woodstock, New York.

The longtime artists’ colony was already a home base for Bob
Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience,
the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts,
including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead,
Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more. 

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opened
on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate
New York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and
Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to
raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll
retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York.

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opened on a
patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New
York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and
Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise
funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near
the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists’ colony
was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians.

Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed
to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the
Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin,
Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more.

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opened on a
patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New
York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and
Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise
funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near
the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists’ colony
was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians.

Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed
to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the
Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin,
Jimi Hendrix (below), Creedence Clearwater Revival and many
more.

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock music festival opens on a patch of
farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael
Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build a
recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock,
New York. The longtime artists’ colony was already a home base for Bob
Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson
Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis
Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more.

Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after
both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to
hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last
minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel,
some 50 miles from Woodstock.

Jimi Hendrix was at Woodstock