Woodstock

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Woodstock

Woodstock Woodstock was a rock music festival that took place near Woodstock, New York in a town called Bethel. The festival took place over three days, August 15, 16, and 17, 1969. The original plan for Woodstock was an outdoor rock festival, "three days of peace and music" in the Catskill village of Woodstock. The festival was expected to attract 50,000 to 100,000 people. It was estimated that an unexpected 400,000 or more people attended. If it weren't for Woodstock, rock and roll wouldn't be where it is today. Woodstock became a symbol of the 1960s American counterculture and a milestone in the history of rock music. The original plan for Woodstock had been to build a recording studio in the town of Woodstock (Sandow, 1). Woodstock had become a rock center when musician Bob Dylan and a rock group called The Band settled there. To promote the idea of the studio the four partners of the music festival (Michael Lang; Artie Kornfield; John Roberts; and Joel Rosenman) decided to stage a concert, which they officially called the Woodstock Festival and Art Fair. The Monterey Pop Festival held in Monterey, California, in 1967 inspired the Woodstock festival (Sandow, 1). The Woodstock partners eventually rented a field from a prominent local dairy farmer, Max Yasgur, who owned land about 48 miles from Woodstock. Early in the week before the festival, it became clear that the event was going to draw a much larger audience than expected. People from as far away as Michigan and California came to listen to the 24 rock groups ("Age, 1"). Thousands more people would have come if police had not blocked off access roads. By the day before the official opening, traffic jams miles long blocked most roads leading to the area. The...

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...ll beyond the festival itself. Overall the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was a great success. It was unexpected, remarkable, and memorable. The festival of course caused some inconvenience to the surrounding communities and some area residents were suspicious of the unconventional looks and behavior of the young people who attended. Yet the festival was peaceful. America's youths surprised many people by the festivals success. If it wasn't for their peaceful ways, the festival would not have been as prevailing. This event is though by many to mark a high point in the American counterculture (Sandow, 1). So much more came out of this music and art festival than expected. Woodstock has changed the outlook on rock and roll, the 1960s, and togetherness. It proved that when people come together for a commendable cause, good things happen. That good thing was Woodstock.

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