# Woodstock Festival

Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival) was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at a dairy farm nearly 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969.
During the sometimes rainy weekend, thirty-two acts performed outdoors in front of 500,000 concert-goers. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most pivotal moments in popular music history and was listed among Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

## Quotes
### Chronological order

* I'm not worried about the security particularly. If people have enough to do, there won't be trouble.
** Wesley A. Pomeroy, head of security, quoted in the New York Times June 27, 1969.
* The cream of the underground will be there. Everybody's coming from all over the country. There'll be drugs and psychedelics and music and riots.
** Peter Franklin, a young actor, quoted in the New York Times August 15, 1969.
* My parents knew there'd be drugs there, that it'll be a bit wild. They didn't want me to come. I know there'll be drugs everywhere and I wonder what it will all be like. I've never been away from home before. I wonder what will happen to all of us.
** Unidentified 16-year-old, quoted in the New York Times August 15, 1969.
* Anybody who tries to comes here is crazy. Sullivan County is a great big parking lot.
** Wesley A. Pomeroy, head of security, quoted in the New York Times August 16, 1969.
* As far as I know the narcotics guys are not arresting anybody for grass. If we did there isn't enough space in Sullivan (county) or the next three (sic) "countries" to put them in.
** An unidentified State Police sergeant, quoted in the New York Times August 16, 1969.
* Stop Max's Hippie Music Festival. No 150,000 hippies here. Buy No Milk.
** Sign in the town of Wallkill, protesting the festival held on Max Yasgur's dairy farm, as reported in the New York Times August 16, 1969.
* Don't bother Max's cows. Let them moo in peace.
** Sign at the festival in support of Yasgur, as reported in the New York Times August 16, 1969.
* Good morning! What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for four hundred thousand.
** Wavy Gravy, speaking from the stage, quoted in Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World By Mike Evans, Paul Kingsbury, Martin Scorsese. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009 ISBN 9781402766237.
* It's about the quietest, most well-behaved 300,000 people in one place that can be imagined. There have been no fights or incidents of violence of any kind.
** Michael Lang, festival producer, as reported in the New York Times August 17, 1969.
* If we had any inkling that there was going to be this kind of attendance, we certainly would not have gone ahead. … We've had a very averse situation here... Financially speaking, of course, the festival is a disaster.
** John P. Roberts, president of Woodstock Ventures and promoter of the festival, to the New York Times August 17, 1969.
* You aren't taking poison acid. The acid's not poison. It's just badly manufactured acid. You are not going to die. We have treated 300 cases and it's all just badly manufactured acid. So if you think you've taken poison, you haven't. But if you're worried, just take half a tablet.
** A festival announcer speaking from the stage, as reported in the New York Times August 17, 1969.
* I hope David can hear it.
** Joan Baez, following her performance of "We Shall Overcome", in reference to David Harris, her husband who was imprisoned for draft resistance, as reported in the New York Times August 17, 1969.
* We're vestiges of our former selves.
** An unidentified 20-year-old at the New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal, upon returning from the festival, as reported in the New York Times August 17, 1969.
* The whole thing is a gas. I dig it all, the mud, the rain, the music, the hassles.
** A long haired young man identified as "Speed", as reported in the New York Times August 18, 1969.
* I guess this was meant to happen, and everybody is still with us. We're going to go on all night with the music.
** Artie Kornfeld, Woodstock Ventures partner, in regard to the rain, as reported in the New York Times August 18, 1969.
* Like wow, these people are really beautiful, the cops, the storekeepers, the army, everybody.
** Laura Glazer, an 18-year-old attendee, as reported in the New York Times August 18, 1969.
* Notwithstanding their personality, their dress and their ideas, they were and they are the most courteous, considerate and well-behaved group of kids I have ever been in contact with in my 24 years of police work.
** Lou Yank, head of the police department in Monticello, New York, as reported in the New York Times August 18, 1969

### Undated

    Country Joe McDonald: Gimme an F!
    Crowd: F!
    Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a U!
    Crowd: U!
    Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a C!
    Crowd: C!
    Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a K!
    Crowd: K!
    Country Joe McDonald: What's that spell?
    Crowd: FUCK!
   * Country Joe McDonald, from the stage, quoted in Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World

### Woodstock (1970 American documentary film)

    Interviewer: You are now giving the world's greatest three-day freebie.
    Michael Lang: Okay, there's only one way to do it. That's what it is. No, there's a way to do it, man. There is no way. The only way to do it is to get into a rap with... it's okay.
    Interviewer: Come here. Come here.
    Michael Lang: This is one thing that I was gonna wait a while before we talked about, but maybe we'll talk about it now so you can think about it.
    Interviewer: It's a free concert from now on.
    Michael Lang: That doesn't mean that anything goes. What that means is we're gonna put the music up here for free. What it means is that the people who are backing this thing, who put up the money for it, are gonna take a bit of a bath. A big bath. That's no hype, that's true. They're gonna get hurt, but what it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important and the music is, than a dollar. Well, when they hook the electricity up, a great jolt runs all the way through there. If you've got the ticket, you disconnect the circuit. Otherwise, you disintegrate.
    Hugh Romney: Here it comes. Yes. Tell me, little girl, what's your name?
    Beth Riley: My name is Beth Riley, and what's yours?
    Hugh Romney: My name is Hugh.
    Beth Riley: How do you do? My name is Sue. I'll see you around.
    Hugh Romney: Here they come. Here they come! Yeah, yeah. My name is Hugh Romney. I'm with the Hog Farm, and I'm working on a scene. Some people call it bum trips.
    Concert staff: I don't think there's such a thing as a bum trip. We're working with hobo voyages. A half an hour after we release anybody from our section, we turn them into doctors, and they care for people that were tripping like they were when they came in. Now, people been saying that some of the acid is poisoned. It's not poisoned. it's just bad acid. It's manufactured poorly. If you can find out who it is... So anybody that thinks they've taken some poison, forget it. And if you feel like experimenting, only take half the tab, okay? Thank you.
    Joan Baez: I'd like to sing you a song that is one of my husband, David's, favorite songs, and let me just tell you that he's fine, and we're fine, too, and David was just shipped from the county jail, which is very much of a drag, to a federal prison, which is kind of like a big summer camp after you've been in county jail long enough. See, I just now got a letter, I have it with me, about the trip from the county jail with manacles on his legs and his arms manacled to his... Two men on each side, right? Well, I mean, it's all worth writing about. He doesn't care, you know, and the first time he felt afraid in the whole thing, was a couple of, I guess, guards or something, started talking very loudly and started talking about the last draft case that had been through, and "that motherfucker," and, "We'll get you, motherfucker," you know? And he prayed a little bit harder. He wouldn't do anything anyhow, but it's not a very comfortable feeling, but nothing has happened. He's fine. Anyway, this is an organizing song, and I was happy to find out that after David had been in jail for two and a half weeks, he already had a very, very good hunger strike going with 42 federal prisoners, none of whom were draft people, so...
    Male concert attendee: Somebody may have noticed, or all of you may have noticed our familiar-colored helicopter over there. The United States Army has lent us some medical teams and giving us a hand. They're with us, man. They are not against us. They are with us. They're here to give us all a hand and help us, and for that they deserve it. There are 45 doctors or more. I know of at least 45 who are here without pay because they dig what this is into. A lot of kids on acid and shit like that. One kid died, heroin overdose. Yeah, another guy died. He was run over, I believe. The Army's really done a great job, you know. People out in the stands are calling them pigs and shit like that, and it's not right, you know. They've done a good job.
    Interviewer: You don't have any money?
    Male concert attendee: Nobody up here has any money. You could eat and live here for a week without any money, so don't worry about it. I know, but I got to go back to California. You can get a ride to California, too. You know, everybody here is in the same thing as you are, you know, and you just have to dig it and live with it. About 30 hours, at least.
    Interviewer: Thirty hours straight? No naps?
    Male concert attendee: No naps.
    Interviewer: Well, you're doin' a good job here.
    Port-O-San Maintenance Man: Thank you very much. Glad to do it for these kids. My son's here too and I got one over in Vietnam too. He's up in the DMZ right now with all the flying helicopters.
    Concert organizer: We have a gentleman with us. It's the gentleman upon whose farm we are, Mr. Max Yasgur.
    Max Yasgur: [Taking the microphone on the main stage] Is this on? I'm a farmer. I don't know... I don't know how to speak to 20 people at one time, let alone a crowd like this, but I think you people have proven something to the world. Not only to the town of Bethel or Sullivan County or New York State, you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that, you had quite a few inconveniences as far as water and food and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of. They'd enjoy a vote of thanks. But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids, and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are, a half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music, and have nothing but fun and music, and God bless you for it!

### Quotes about the festival

* I think it was fantastic. I think the only way its been overdone was thinking it changed the world, politically and as far as the war went. It was only a part of things. It wasn’t it.
** Interview (2009)
* We were ready to rock out and we waited and waited and finally it was our turn... ...there were a half million people asleep. These people were out. It was sort of like a painting of a Dante scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud.
* And this is the moment I will never forget as long as I live: a quarter mile away in the darkness, on the other edge of this bowl, there was some guy flicking his Bic, and in the night I hear, 'Don't worry about it John. We're with you.' I played the rest of the show for that guy."
** John Fogerty regarding Creedence Clearwater Revival's 3 a.m. start time at Woodstock.
** Bordowitz, Hank (2007). Bad Moon Rising: The Unauthorized History of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated. p. 390. ISBN 155652661X.
* Men reached the moon in July 1969, and Woodstock began three weeks later. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this was when the hippies took over the country, and when the true cultural war over Progress was lost. Today's aged hippies no longer understand that there is a difference between the election of a black president and the creation of cheap solar energy; in their minds, the movement towards greater civil rights parallels general progress everywhere. Because of these ideological conflations and commitments, the 1960s Progressive Left cannot ask whether things actually might be getting worse.
** Peter Thiel, In an editorial published by National Review (2011)

## External links

* Woodstock Festival quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation quotes at the Internet Movie Database