Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Summer Jam at Watkins Glen! Bigger Than Woodstock?

The largest United States concert of all time took place in Upstate New York 50 years ago today. It's tempting for your brain to assume the estimated 500,000 that attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was the biggest but that's not the case. Summer Jam at Watkins Glen drew an enormous 600,000 to see 3 bands in one day.

150,000 tickets were sold to see the Grateful Dead, The Band and the Allman Brothers Band on July 28, 1973 in the village of Watkins Glen, New York. To the surprise of everyone, including the artists, an additional half-million fans showed up and were not turned away.

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With Summer Jam scheduled to begin at 12 noon on a Saturday, fans started making the pilgrimage upstate late Friday evening. According to the New York State Police, by early Saturday morning vehicles blocked roads 14 miles away from the festival and tow trucks were utilized to clear a path for traffic.

Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band commented that it even took Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead 8 hours to get to the venue, due to traffic jams. At the concert site promoters pulled the fencing down and turned Summer Jam into a free concert.

Jim Koplik and Shelly Finkel, promoters of Summer Jam, are working with world-class filmmakers to make an independent documentary about Summer Jam at Watkins Glen. Watch the trailer below to get a sneak peek. To learn more about the documentary and to help make the project come to life, click HERE.

We sold 150,000 tickets but, to our surprise over 600,000 people showed up. We have some great stories to tell you about a festival that was actually bigger than Woodstock. This film has been 50 years in the making and what a long strange trip it's been. - Jim Koplik