“3 Days of Peace and Music” is the saying that most would use to describe the iconic Woodstock festival put on by Michael Lang, originally performed over the weekend of August 15-18, 1969. This music festival was one of the biggest rock festivals ever taken place in the US featuring artists such as Janis Joplin, Arlo Guthrie, The Grateful Dead, The Who and many more. Although this concert originally was permitting people with tickets only (offered at a price of approximately $6.50) there ended up being such an overwhelming crowd, they let everyone who showed up into the concert. There ended up being over half a million people enjoying the show. The crowd had always been defined as “hippies” enjoying the music, and this festival influenced this group of young adults in the 1960s as “Woodstock Nation.” Majority of the artists here performed songs in resistance to the Vietnam War that was occurring at the same time.
Woodstock 94’ was the 25th anniversary named “2 More Days of Peace and Music” taken place in 1994 which featured acts such as Bob Dylan, Green Day, Sheryl Crow, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more. Artists who originally performed at the first Woodstock such as The Grateful Dead, Bob Weir, Crosby, Stills, and Nash were also among the performers for Woodstock 94’. There was over half a million people who showed up to this festival despite the rainy weather and mud-filled terrain.
This year, for the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock, Michael Lang has decided to put on “Woodstock 50.” This festival will take place near the catskills of New York once again and be on August 16-18, 2019. This festival will host a variety of different performers including some from the original Woodstock such as Dead and Company (featuring members of the Grateful Dead), Santana, and John Sebastian, while also hosting more recently popular artists such as Jay-Z, The Lumineers, Halsey, and Miley Cyrus. Woodstock in a sense, is all about social change. Each festival so far has dealt with social issues that are occurring at the time of the festival and the mission of this year’s festival is “The original Woodstock Music & Arts Fair brought people together during a time of great social turmoil. Our 3 day celebration of peace, love and music proved that it is possible to live together in harmony and with compassion. Live with only our best selves represented. It gave people around the world hope. For Woodstock 50, we are supporting causes that represent the issues of our times…but our call to action is timeless. Stand with us. Make a difference. Help heal the planet and the people living on it. That’s what Woodstock is all about.” Source
Tickets for the iconic 50th anniversary festival go on sale April 22, 2019, but for more information on buying tickets, history, and ways to get involved on important issues going on in the world today, check out the Woodstock website!