Today In History: Woodstock

On Aug. 17, 1969, the Woodstock Art and Music festival was winding down near Bethel, N.Y., about 75 miles outside of New York City.

An estimated 450,000 people turned out for a weekend of music and celebration in an event that became synonymous with the turbulence of the '60s.

The promoters originally wanted to hold their music festival near the town of Woodstock, which was developing as a summer colony for artists and some rock stars, but they were rejected by local opposition.

The promoters moved the concert to a dairy farm in the hamlet of Bethel, but the festival kept the Woodstock name.

Crowds clogged roads throughout the county for nearly 40 miles. With roads blocked, promoters and police used helicopters to bring in emergency supplies. Local residents complained of drug use by concertgoers, the mountains of trash they left behind, and the traffic problems the concert created in the rural town.

The concert was held during a weekend of rain and high winds, which turned the ground to mud.

Among the musicians: Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, Ravi Shankar, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mountain, Santana, John Sebastian, The Who, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sly and the Family Stone, The Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sweetwater, Sha-Na-Na, The Incredible String Band, Country Joe and the Fish.