Inside look at Woodstock Music and Art Fair

1969

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In August of 1969, one of the most famous music festivals took place on Max Yasgur's 600-acre farm in Bethel, New York (TIME MAG). That music festival was Woodstock Music and Art Fair: “Three Days of Music and Peace” (9). It happened at a time when America was divided due to war (7). Over 400,000 migrated to the small town on Thursday, August 14, and the music started at 5 p.m. August 15. The festival lasted until Monday, August 18, with only 35,000 people remaining; a small fraction to what there was at the beginning. There were some residents of the Bethel that openly welcomed the music goers by supplying free food and water, but there were some residents that didn’t support the crowd. Tons of musicians played on stage; some well-known artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Santana, and some not so much like Mountain, Canned Heat and John Sebastian. All in all, there were a little over thirty musicians played. While looking at the coverage of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, I’m hoping to find out how it was covered. For example, if it was portrayed in a positively or negatively, and learn how well the event was portrayed in the media.

This is the original Woodstock poster used in 1969. (13)

It seems that a majority of the video coverage was of the many different artists that played during the music festival. Some of the artists recorded were Jimi Hendrix and his famous guitar solo for the Star Spangled Banner, The Who, Janis Joplin, and many more of the musicians that played over those three days. There are also numerous of videos of the crowd enjoying the festival rain or shine.

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Video footage wasn't the only type of coverage that took place during the three day event. There were many photographs were also taken, some of musicians, but also of the massive crowd that attended the festival. Some of the photographs show the festival goers waiting in traffic, dancing and having fun, camping, and weather conditions.

"Concert-goers huddle under a sheet of cardboard in the rain at the three-day, era-defining Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York. Originally published in the August 29, 1969, issue of LIFE."
      Photo by: John Dominis (2)

"Stalled pilgrims on a road to Bethel"
Photo by: Ken Regan (8)

Thousands of people flocked to the music festival causing massive backups in the town of Bethel. "Thousands more would have come if police had not blocked off access roads, which had become ribbon like parking lots choked with stalled cars (10)."

"Zonked listeners find shelter in their own impromptu pad."
Photo by: AP (1)

The festival goers made home wherever they could find room on the over crowded farm.

"History's biggest live audience bends to the sound of rock."
Photo by: Bill Eppridge - LIFE (3)

Not only did the crowd get into the festival, but so did the artists themselves. Woodstock brought people together said a young teenager in the TIME magazine (10).

In summary, the media did a wonderful job at covering the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. It not only showed the musicians, but also the thousands of young adults that attended the event. From the pictures and videos shown, it is apparent that Woodstock was portrayed positively through the media. As stated in the TIME magazine, “the young people found it all ‘beautiful (10).’” Woodstock was a success and the media shows that through the coverage of the event. I think the media did a great job at showing the festival in a positive light, which lets all of us who are to young to have been there to see this event was good and not bad like we hear (at least that’s what I’ve heard from many). There is so much more footage that could be looked at like: are there photographs showing the event negatively, what do people think of the event other then what I looked at, or what was the bigger picture?

The after years

It has been 42 years since the first Woodstock happened. There is still information floating around about what happened and who went. Since then. with Newseum's help, a few interviews have happened with people who impacted the festival. The next two videos are those interviews.

This is part one of a four part series interview with the gentleman, Michael Lang, that picked the plot of land where Woodstock took place, which was on Max Yasgur's farm (5).

This is part one of a four part series with a reporter, Barnard Collier, from the New York Times that attended the music festival (4).

Works Cited

(1) AP. Zonked Listeners Find Shelter in Their Own Impromptu Pad. 1969. Photograph. TIME Magazine, Bethel, NY. The Message of History's Biggest Happening. 32-33. Print.

           The photograph shows how people camped at Woodstock. It does a great job showing viewers that the festival was a relaxed, impromptu festival like the photo caption states.

(2) Dominis, John. Concert-goers Huddle... 1969. Photograph. LIFE, Bethel, NY. LIFE. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://life.time.com/history/the-best-of-life-37-years-in-pictures/#34>.

            The photograph shows a group of people huddled underneath a piece of cardboard. It shows weather didn't stop anyone from going to Woodstock.

(3) Eppridge - LIFE, Bill. History's Biggest Live Audience Bends to the Sound of Rock. 1969. Photograph. TIME Magazine, Bethel, NY. The Message of History's Biggest Happening. 32-33. Print.

           This photo shows an artist on stage playing with the crowd in the background. It was taken from an article in TIME magazine from August 29, 1969. It displays how the crowd was so into the festival.

(4) Inside Media: Live from Woodstock (Part 1). Dir. Newseum. Perf. Barnard Collier. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Aug. 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7q8ZZCo7I>.

           The reason this video was used is due to the fact that it is with a reporter that was actually at Woodstock to report on it. I think it's great because someone gets to explain how and what they covered at the festival.

(5) Inside Media: The Road to Woodstock (Part 1). Dir. Newseum. Perf. Michael Lang. YouTube. YouTube, 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgQJ4SsORx0>.

            The point of this video is to give some extra information about Woodstock. I thought it was interesting because it was with the gentleman that helped Woodstock happen.

(6) Jimi Hendrix - The Star Spangled Banner (Live as Woodstock 1969). Dir. ThePhantomLord76. YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMhq1L0cJf0>.

            This video was used to help illustrate the use of video media during Woodstock. The reason I picked this video was because it has became one of the most popular videos taken at Woodstock.

(7) The Museum. "Woodstock Festival History." Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://bethelwoodscenter.org/museum/festivalhistory.aspx>.

            This website was a great resource for information for the first paragraph. It had some useful facts to help give a brief synopsis of Woodstock.

(8) Regan, Ken. Stalled Pilgrims on a Road to Bethel. 1969. Photograph. TIME Magazine, Bethel, NY. The Message of History's Biggest Happening. 32-33. Print.

            This photograph shows a huge back-up of cars trying to get to into Woodstock. It is a great photo showing how many people wanted to go to the festival.

(9) “The Woodstock Music and Art Fair.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/647675/The-Woodstock-Music-and-Art-Fair.>

           This website gave good information about the festival. It also helped with information for the opening paragraph.

(10) TIME. "The Message of History's Biggest Happening." TIME 29 Aug. 1969: 32-33. Print.

           This article gives information about the Woodstock festival. I used it mainly for the great photographs it has in it of the festival.

(11) Woodstock 1969: The First Festival: 3 Days of Peace and Music. 1969. Photograph. Bethel, NY. Ego TV. By Justin Thomas. 15 Aug. 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <o http://egotvonline.com/2011/08/15/woodstock-photos/>.

            Background photo for blog.

(12) Woodstock: August 15-18, 1969. Dir. Dizzo95. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Apr. 2008. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5-f0oS_4A>.

            This video is a good introduction to what Woodstock was about. It is just short enough to help get the point of the festival across.

(13) Woodstock Music and Art Fair, The: poster. Photograph. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/647675/The-Woodstock-Music-and-Art-Fair.

           This is the photo of the original poster used to promote the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.