Woodstock Revisited

[SSR290]

After 41 years I finally made it back to the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music festival.
In August 1969 my brother and I were spending a week with my uncle who had a
weekend place on Route 55 just south of Eldred NY.
We had heard of some "HIPPY "festival to be held upstate but thought it was actually to be in Woodstock NY.
We started to see the cars/vans/buses going past the house and wondered why they would go this way.
In the local grocery store the people were buying up everything; bread, rolls, buns and anything in a can.
Everything except brussel sprouts. Even the Hippies didn't want brussel sprouts.

On Thursday we woke up to see several cars parked at the bottom of the driveway.
The kids were sleeping on the hood and trunk of the cars and were hanging out of the van.
After they got up they decide to take a bath in the little stream across the road.
This was very near where we killed a Rattlesnake just two days prior.

On Thursday afternoon a friend of my uncle came down to show off his new GTO convertible.
We got to talking about the Hippies going by and he said that the festival was just up the road about 12 miles in White Lake.
We loaded into the GTO and headed up to White Lake.
When we hit the intersection with 17B, the road was a parking lot, people dumped their cars along the road and were walking from there.
Since he knew the area we turned right and headed through the back roads.
We ended up about 1/4 mile from the back side of the festival when we got stopped.
We could just see the stage and could hear the sound checks being done.
The place was packed with people cars and police. It was quite a sight.

All we could do was turn around and find a way out.
Too bad I didn't have a camera.

The site has been preserved and has a visitor area.
Near the top of the hill the "Bethel Woods center for the Arts" has been built. (Bethel Woods Center for the Arts | Official Site)
It has an beautiful outdoor stage for performances and a Woodstock Museum.
Performers this year: Sting , Celtic Woman , Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon.
The Woodstock Museum was fantastic and well worth the trip. Too bad pictures were not permitted inside.

Did get some pictures of the site.

1 & 2 Hillside today
3 Dedication
4 Picture of site in 1969 from the air.
5 Bill...came in 1969 from California and never left

[Greg Ducato]

Far out man! I was only 10 years old at the time but read all about it in Life magazine at the time, it was pretty amazing stuff for an altar boy living in the suburbs.

[SSR290]

1 Performer Details
2 Site Parking area
3 & 4 Bethel Woods Center
5 Woodstock Museum

[Flying Dog]

Amazing!
I would have loved to have been there in 1969.
I was part of that era, but not part of the main event.

[Beach potato]

Great Thread- thanks, The movie made of that event has always been a blast to watch. I recently saw Paul Rogers w/Bad Company and then was able to see the Woodstock film showing Him and Bad Company back then. Never lost his voice but the hair has receded!

[sangus]

Wow, takes me back to the same time. My family (military) was rotating from Anchorage, AK (Elmendorf AFB) to Portsmouth, NH, (Pease AFB) and I was spending a week with my maternal father. We were in the area visiting his family and I can remember him saying a couple of thousand times (he was retired Air Force) G#$ D*%$ Hippies. I turned 15 on August 17th so I was on the cusp of becoming a G#$ D*%$ Hippy. Sure wish we could have gone to it and been part of it but at least I can say I was aware of it! I saw the movie multiple times and of course, owned the album.

I still enjoy listening to the Santana, CSN & Y, Ten Years After and many others...especially Joe Cocker...guy can sing a song, huh?

[Beach potato]

I am going to go listen to some Ten Years After right now.

!!




AND......The traveling show of Woodstock should be seen and heard. Perfect. Check your area music venues. It a note for note high energy Rock and Roll show thats amazing!


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