Remember Woodstock: Why Does the 1969 Festival Still Resonate?

A behindstage view as country rock group Joe and the Fish perform in the rain at the Woodstock Music and Art Show in Bethel, New York on August 17, 1969.

Image credit: Bill Ebridge/Life Image Collection/Getty Images.

The legacy of the Woodstock Festival, which took place in Bethel, New York, from Friday, August 15, to the morning of Monday, August 18, 1969, is based on the fact that half a million hippies turned into a muddy, dead end, into a place that symbolized peace and love. The event also confirmed that rock and roll had entered the mainstream.

The event has marked culture to this day. Rolling stones He sat down with Woodstock 69 veterans Country Joe McDonald, David Fricke and Grill Marcus to ask why this free music event inadvertently continues to figure in popular culture.

“I always say Woodstock was like a family outing; it was fun,” says songwriter McDonald, who has performed with his psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish. They performed a solo set that concluded with the iconic tandem of “The Fish ‘Cheer’” and the comical theme song. The Vietnam War protest “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag”. “You shouldn’t underestimate that you were having fun.”

Whether it’s Jimi Hendrix’s legendary rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” or the iconic dove and guitar logo that flew over the trampled fields of Yasgur’s farm, people remain fascinated by this cultural landmark.

“Yes, it was a concert, and that was the main reason everyone came, but the reason we remember it is the way people reacted to the conditions and circumstances and the obligations that they imposed.” explains Frick, who had just turned 17 when he attended. “The music is what inspired us to keep doing it.”

“For three days, everyone spent quality time together and changed the world,” says Marcus, a contributing writer at Rolling stones. It was a protest and an act of resistance. When students gathered in Tiananmen Square in 1989, they said, “This is our Woodstock.” They weren’t referring to Santana, The Who, and Hendrix; They meant to come together, and take a stand no matter how young we were. So, in this sense, this holiday has become something more than that.