These are five curiosities about the 1969 Woodstock Festival

Between August 15 and 18, 1969 thousands of young people gathered in upstate New York to attend the Woodstock Music and Arts Festivalconsidered today as the most important in the history of rock music.

Joan Baez, SantanaIncredible String Band, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, The Who,Jefferson Airplane, Joe CockerTen Years After, The Band, Johnny Winter, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Crosby, Still, Nash & Young and of course, Jimi Hendrixwere some of the most prominent names in this festival that changed the history of music in general.

We tell you some curious facts about this mythical festival:

Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Doors said no

The festival presented multiple artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who or Janis Joplin, however, there were artists who rejected the invitation to participate in the show. In the case of bob dylanthe singer preferred to attend the Isle of Wight festival held in the UK just a few days later. Led Zeppelin preferred to tour the United States alone before participating in a festival in which they would be “another band on the list”, according to their manager, Peter Grant. The Beatles rejected Woodstock because they had withdrawn from the stage in 1966 Y The Doors turned down the invitation when they were told it was going to be at a farm near Woodstock.as they thought it would only be a “second class festival”.

Despite its name, the festival did not take place in Woodstock

The intention of the organizers was to open a recording studio in this town in the state of New York and that is why they launched the festival, which initially it was to be held in nearby Wallkill. However, at the last minute the neighbors objected and only the intervention of a farmer, named Max Yagur, intervened and saved the organization of the festival by renting the space for about 75 thousand dollars, located in Bethel, just under 100 kilometers southwest of Woodstock, where the event finally took place.

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200 thousand tickets were sold but more than 500 thousand people attended

Attendance was complete chaos for the organizers. It had been recorded that ticket sales were around 200,000 tickets, which were sold at 18 dollars. Nevertheless, It is estimated that more than 500,000 people attended the festival, and the number of one million people was even spoken of at the time. All this caused enormous chaos, with food shortages and the blocking of access to the site. So much so that some groups had to arrive by helicopter to the vicinity of the stage, where a landing zone was improvised.

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Ritchie Havens opened the festival when it wasn’t his turn

The artist chosen for the opening of the festival was Tim Hardin, however Ritchie Havens was the first artist to open the show. This happened because no one could find Hardin during the concert, who was too drunk to play. Havens had to extend his presentation also due to problems with access to the festival, which prevented other artists scheduled before her performance, initially pegged at fifth place. Nevertheless, this fact benefited Ritchie Havenswhose name was linked to Woodstock, so much so that, when he died in 2013, his ashes were thrown from a plane over the place where the festival was held.

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Jimi Hendrix stood out even though he played in the morning

Jimi Hendrix’s performance at Woodstock is one of the most remembered in its historyalthough many also remember that took place at 9 a.m. on Monday 18when only less than half of the spectators were present. This happened because Hendrix’s manager turned down a spot at midnight on Sunday. because he wanted me to be the main star of the event closing it the next day. However, despite the fact that his presentation was in the morning, one of the magical moments of that long weekend took place, with a rendition of the American anthem star-spangled banner, that has gone down in history and that the critic Al Aronowitz called “the best moment of the sixties”.

AG

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These are five curiosities about the 1969 Woodstock Festival