Happy 50th Anniversary to Woodstock!  The festival, which kicked off August 15th, 1969, left its mark on the music world, and a legacy that remains unrivaled.  It wasn't about having the biggest names (because some of the biggest of that time didn't perform), it wasn't about the money (because it turned into a free show), it was about the music.

My favorite story about Woodstock 1969 was a family near miss.  My grandmother used to tell me how she almost took my mother as a kid, thinking it was an "arts and crafts" fair.  I still laugh thinking about the possibility of my perfectly done-up grandmother at what became the even that was Woodstock.

In celebrating the history, I had some fun looking through of course facts and fun stuff about the festival. So here's a little bit to reminisce about, on the anniversary of the day that Woodstock kicked off:

  • Some huge names turned down performing: Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, the Doors, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Moody Blues, The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel
  • Jimi Hendrix got gypped: While there were hundreds of thousands in the crowd for Woodstock 1969, Hendrix was the last act, and played to only about 30,000 people.  Sucks for everyone who missed his two-hour set and now-legendary version of the 'The Star Spangled Banner'.
  • Services were limited:  I'm guessing since the size of the crowd was far-from expected, there were only about a dozen officers to man 400-500,000 people.  Oh and reports say there were only about 600 toilets
  • Woodstock was free:  Well, eventually.  Initially it wasn't, but when ticket booths and infrastructure wasn't completed in time, it was decided that the event would be free
  • Last-minute planning:  After being turned down by Wallkill, NY and other areas, the Bethel Woods farm was rented just one month before the actual show

You can get more facts and fun in the same places I did: history.comcbc.ca, and woodstock.com

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