The Woodstock Music and Art Festival

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Woodstock represented the youth counterculture of the late 1960’s that emerged in response to inequality of minority groups, the Vietnam War, and political divisions. The people of Woodstock Nation embraced antiauthoritarianism “in pursuit of utopian visions”, using rock and roll as the ultimate symbol to rally around. The music festival, starring some of music’s biggest names, shocked the country and left a legacy of peace, love, and nonviolence. Despite bad planning, Woodstock represented the collective values of a new generation in America.
The children of the 1960s adopted a set of values that clashed with traditional ones, rebelling against society through dress, behavior, and beliefs. They rejected American culture as too restrictive, unjust, and boring after seeing their parents working jobs with monotonous tasks. This “counterculture” became extremely evident in metropolitan areas such as the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and New York’s East Village.
From the youth counterculture emerged “the “New Left” - a term used by 1960’s radicals to distinguish themselves from their radical forerunners”. Children of the 1960s denounced the “liberalism that informed the policies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson”. Believing that success was measured in the wrong way, evident in the materialistic tendencies of society, counterculture embracers felt that personal relationships had lost their sincerity. The youth saw the public image of leaders like John F. Kennedy as a façade, feeling that leaders like him were lacking a genuine desire for social change. To the youth, racial discrimination, for example, was evidence of this as segregation and racism continued to oppress millions of people in America.
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• "music and the Vietnam War." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of The Vietnam War. Jeff T. Hay. Ed. Charles Zappia. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. 196-198. U.S. History in Context. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
• Frisch, Michael. “Woodstock Festival.” Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press, 2005. 1716+. General OneFile. Web. 4 Mar. 2014
• Dudley, William. The 1960’s. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 2000. Print.
• “Nightmare in the Catskills”. New York Times. 18 Aug 1969. Web.
– http://woodstockpreservation.org/Gallery/NYT-PDF/17_NightmareInTheCatskills.pdf
• “Morning After at Bethel”. New York Times. 19 Aug 1969. Web.
– http://woodstockpreservation.org/Gallery/NYT-PDF/19_MorningAfterAtBethel.pdf
• Levering, Ralph B. “A Beautiful Festival.” The New York Times. 18 Aug 1969. Web.
– http://woodstockpreservation.org/Gallery/NYT-PDF/22_BeautifulFestival.pdf

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