Woodstock Festival: A one hit wonder.

Woodstock Festival: A one hit wonder.

Figure 1. The crowd at Woodstock Festival.

The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair of 1969 was one of the very first music festivals ever and remains an inspiration to festival organisers today.  It started out when four men came together to form Woodstock Ventures Inc. and now has “continuing significance in relation to the music industry, the evolution of international pop festivals, the development of rock music in the wake of Woodstock, and the growth of 1960’s nostalgia”[1] however not everything went according to the organisers plans.

Figure 3. A female festivalgoer.

Younger people had begun to break away from mainstream society in the 1960’s and were often involved in protests for civil rights and nuclear disarmament. This new way of thinking was known as counterculture and many traditional, older people feared it. They labelled the younger people as “hippies”[2] and argued that allowing the festival to take place would encourage their detrimental behaviour. The festival promised to be a demonstration of peace and love but was originally opposed by the residents of Woodstock who viewed these values negatively and did not want the “hippies”[3] in their town so they used health and safety regulations to deter festival planning.

Eventually it was agreed that the festival could take place, as it would boost the town’s economy, if organisers put safety measures in place including car parking, insurance, sleeping areas and security. Unfortunately, “these plans were based on a projected attendance of 50,000 people per day” [4] however the actual turn out of the festival is estimated between 200,000 and 750,000 over all three days.

Figure 2. A group at the festival.

The unexpected popularity of the festival meant that the facilities prepared by organisers could not accommodate the needs of so many festival goers and this had a negative impact on some residents of the Woodstock area. Despite some of the residents claiming the festival attendees were polite and even helped clear up the area, many other residents were highly opposed to the counterculture these “hippies”[5] had brought with them. They used the health and safety worries “as ways to oppose the festival without playing the hippies, sex, drugs and rock and roll moral panic card”[6] to take legal action against the organisers and make sure the festival was not made an annual event.

The conflict between Woodstock residents still exists today, with some viewing the event as historically significant while others view it as something to be forgotten[7]. However most historians such as Seago agree it “appeared to represent many of the most optimistic elements of that turbulent decade”[8] and was a defining moment of the 1960’s era. The festival is remembered as one of the highlights of the decade and the debate surrounding it demonstrates the contrast between the new way of thinking and the old. It is due to this debate and the disagreement between those accepting of counterculture and those who are against it that made the Woodstock Festival a one hit wonder and prevented it from taking place again in the future.

Figure 4. The main festival stage.

Bibliography

Helfrich, R. (2010). "What Can a Hippie Contribute to our Community?" Culture Wars, Moral Panics, and The Woodstock Festival on JSTOR. [online] Jstor.org. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965647

Seago, A. (2005). Remembering Woodstock. American Studies, [online] 46(2), pp.202-203. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40643878. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

Woodstock.com. (2017). Line Up | Woodstock. [online] Available at: http://www.woodstock.com/lineup/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

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[1] Seago, A. (2005). Remembering Woodstock. American Studies, [online] 46(2), pp.202-203. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40643878. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

[2] Helfrich, R. (2010). "What Can a Hippie Contribute to our Community?" Culture Wars, Moral Panics, and The Woodstock Festival on JSTOR. [online] Jstor.org. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965647 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Helfrich, R. (2010). "What Can a Hippie Contribute to our Community?" Culture Wars, Moral Panics, and The Woodstock Festival on JSTOR. [online] Jstor.org. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965647 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Seago, A. (2005). Remembering Woodstock. American Studies, [online] 46(2), pp.202-203. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40643878. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017].