The summer before last (2019) was the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival. Disappointingly, a memorial concert that was in the works failed to launch.
However, the local area went all out anyway to highlight the historical event. They informally renamed NYS Route 17-B (where the dairy barn of Yasgur's Farm still stands) as The Woodstock Way. There are psychedelically painted statues of the Woodstock Bird in every town, village and hamlet. Peace signs can be seen everywhere. Until the pandemic, the Arts Centre had a wonderful series of concerts. The venue is much like Tanglewood, Wolf Trap or Ravinia and entertains thousands of people.
In the field in front of Yasgur's Farm is a 25-foot statue of Joe Cocker playing air guitar. There's a rumor that he invented air guitar on stage at Woodstock. Watch the documentary film to see what I mean.
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts has a terrific little museum about the Festival. It's designed to set the mood of the 1960s, socially/politically/internationally and it explains how the concert came to be and how it came off. There are lots of wonderful details including a hippy-painted VW camper, the Wurlitzer electric piano played by Sha-Na-Na and many other exhibits from the 3-day event.
There were two deaths during the Festival. One person died of a drug overdose and an 18-year old from New Jersey (I think) was asleep in a field when a tractor hauling porta-potties drove over him. In spite of the huge crowd of about 400,000, there weren't any serious bouts of violence. Marijuana is a great mellower, eh?
One particular highlight relates to Mr. Yasgur. When the Woodstock producers approached him about renting his farm for the concert, he had to go before the local zoning committees to justify his decision and get the pertinent permissions. I can't find his speech to the local officials but let me liberally paraphrase his comments which are displayed at the museum.
He said that while he's a law & order Republican and he doesn't like the free love attitude of the young people in the '60s, he didn't approve of their drug use or the liberal politics of the younger generation, (he was only in his late 40s!), "the boys fighting over in Viet Nam are protecting all of our rights. These youngsters should be allowed to hold their concert."
When the event became almost too large to contain, the local communities stepped up and provided free food and beverages for the concert-goers who expected there to be provisions for sale. One local lady I've met said she made over 2,000 PB&Js!
If anyone wants to visit the area, it is well worth your time. This is the Lower Catskills and the Upper Delaware River and it's spectacularly beautiful and comfortable. There are hotels, motels, B'N'Bs and private rentals. The mountains can be hiked and the lakes have lots of activities. The golf is superior!
By it's nature, this is a socially distance environment. It's remarkably affordable. And it's beautiful!
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