Essay About Overall Mood Of The Festival And New People

Woodstock 1969
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The Woodstock of 1969 was a revolution in itself and responsible for
redefining the point of view, respect, and attitude of the so-called “counter-cultured”
youth of the late sixties. The attendants of the festival were youths from around the
United States in ages ranging from 17 to 26. The overall mood of the festival was very
relaxed and happy. Although there was a minimal amount of violence at Woodstock,
there were financial problems, drugs, nudity, and traffic jams that seemed to go for
miles down the old country roads surrounding Max Yasgurs dairy farm. Woodstock
was a symbol of the rebellious society of the time. The youths that went were looking
to vent out frustrations that their parents had forced upon them. For most youths, the
“3 Days of Peace, Love, and Music” seemed to be just the place to balance their
thoughts, relax with friends, and meet new people that hated their parents as much as
they did. Two-hundred thousand people were expected to show for the Woodstock
festival, and instead an overwhelming “400,000 youngsters turned up to hear big-
name bands play in a field near the village of Bethel, New York state in what has
become the largest rock concert of the decade”.
The attendants
and the mood of the Woodstock festival in Bethel, New York
was that of the counter-cultered young society of the late sixties. Max Yasgurs farm
was transformed from a beautiful lush, green dairy farm field into a 400,000- person
mudpit. Throughout the days of the festival, the attendants were “undaunted by rain,
mud, wet clothes and chilly mountain breezes, thousands of youths sat on a rural
hillside here for a marathon 19-hour session of folk-rock music”. Drugs had also
become increasingly more popular in the sixties, and Woodstock was no exception to
the latest trend. Drugs were readily available and generously passed around through
the crowds of youths all over the hillside. But the drugs werent the reason that people
generally attended the Woodstock festival. Most would agree with a man interviewed
five miles away from his vehicle walking towards the festival in saying that ” But its
more than that. Im here for the same reason that Indians used to have tribal
gatherings. Just being here with people like me makes it all worthwhile. I guess it will
reinforce my life styles, my beliefs, from the attacks of my parents and their
generation”.
Although there was plenty of peace, love, and hapiness going around the
Woodstock festival, the festival also suffered from lack of police force, money, and
overall ability to handle such an unexpected large crowd. It was said that “even with
ticket sales that went over $1.3 million, they pronounced the fair a financial disaster”.
The second most noticeable
problem was the capacity of people in which Yasgurs farm
was holding at this event. No one on the Woodstock committee ever imagined that
people would tear down the unsturdy fences that surrounded the property and that the
concert would be a free attraction for all who came. Woodstock did not have the
resources, nor the equipment to deal with such an overly large crowd. Many on the
woodstock committee have stated that ” if we had any linking that there was going to
be this kind of of attendance, we certainly would not have gone ahead”. There were
also two accidental deaths at the Woodstock music festival. One young man died from
a drug overdose and the other in a tractor accident. There were other injuries acquired
but the participants of the festival, about 5,000 lesser injuries, but nothing of major
significants. lack of police force was also a major problem
for the festival. One of the
head officers in charge is quoted as saying ” Now I dont have any security people at
allIve been struck. Were having the biggest collection of kids theres ever been i
this