This month, in 1969, nearly half a million music lovers got together at a dairy farm in New York for the legendary 3-day Woodstock Festival.
Publicized as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music", 32 bands, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Santana, played for the huge audience gathered for this amazing Woodstock lineup rain or shine. Flower children, muddy fields, naked people swimming - it was all there in this music festival, just as you'd expect. And though there was also a shortage of food and drinking water, it was pouring rain, and nobody was prepared for such huge turn-up, happy memories were made there. Luckily, two LIFE photographers Bill Eppridge and John Dominis were on-site during the famous music festival and managed to capture the essence of the 1960s perfectly. Take a look at the cool photos below and vote for your favorites!
(h/t: sobadsogood)
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I wonder who took care of all the trashes they left behind... Something tells me they didn't do it themselves.
Wonder if this beautiful young man in the pic is still around? The spring of youth!
I'd chose a groovy way just so that I might cross paths with Jimmy Hendrix and the likes
One thing I like about the 60-70s hippy era- the beautiful women were natural!
One of my students have a similar motorbike. It's so noisy we always know when he arrives.
This shirt looks like it's part of a Bulgarian traditional dress! Lovely!
Tame trousers. Mine were pink, purple, orange and yellow striped. Wide bell bottoms. Still got them
Oh? I thought she'd moved to the higher plane!
Load More Replies...She's still groovin swaying to the tunes man. Oh I wish I had been there . swaying right next to her
Wondering what song she is hl groovin to wish I was swaying to the music beside her thise were the days. Peace out
Oooh, one of those amazing cameras!!! Wonder if it survived Woodstock and if he still have it (if he is still alive).
Woodstock was held on a dairy farm. Pretty sure there was a lot of barefooted s**t hopping going on ;)
I know this guy. His twin brother and my best friend were bf&gf back in the 60's.
Didnt look like much fun to me. Muddy sweaty stinky people. Not my idea of a good time. And im 67 so i was 20 when this big music fest happened. Of course if you are higher than hell i guess you dont notice the nasty aspect of Woodstock
In those days, wearing clothing made out of the flag was radical and even dangerous.
I would be right there too :) Getting clean in Nature is one of the most wonderful feelings. You feel cleaner than after a shower in your Home. ♡♡♡
This definitely has the look of "Where's my ride? I'm ready to go home!"
That's Not a cell phone in her pocket. Imagine how different these shots would be if it were.
I Love how during this era nudity wasn't as evil as other eras. No body shaming, just Loving yourself and others no matter what people looked like. You want to be naked, okay be naked.
There was no racism at Woodstock. People may coin this culture as Hippy Dippy but the rules were so much simpler. There were no rules outside of love and acceptance. Sure, some used this theory to manipulate others into Free Love but most just tried to feel the vibe.
Did the pictures get mixed up? This is of people slicing vegetables, but it had a mature content warning?
And that my friends kills all the glam of thinking of Woddstock of an event with hippies wearing flowers in their hairs. That's disgusting...
Having been there; I didn't see these idyllic spots, with all the beautiful people. I saw a number of average looking people, stuck in a field of mud. Some folk wanting to keep their good spots near the stage, were sleeping in the muc. Why weren't those photos taken and shown. All the cars. They were so overwhelmed they couldn't take tickets. It got announced on the radio that the concert was now free and a half a million people showed up.
It was great looking at these photos from Woodstock. One moment in time when people took time out to be human, amongst the horror of the Vietnam War.
Load More Replies...The only thing I learnt from this gallery that man's a*s from back count as "mature content".
It's interesting how the point of view of the photographers (i.e. always snapping pics with the most beautiful and happy people) has shaped our perception of the event as a kind of Adam &Eve style paradise. (Instead of a wet field full of trash without loos, water, food and music that is so far away, you can't hear it) There must have been some normal or plain ugly people there, but you just don't get to see them.
I can't help but wonder what were their job back in real life. I'm sure some of them had quite serious jobs where the tie and suit was a must have. It's funny to think about that.
most where in the beginning of their "active life" so doubt it...but a lot have certainly turned into top capitalist during the following years
Load More Replies...Great pics, but just look at the rubbish everywhere, not much better back then were they? Walking off and leaving it all for someone else to clear it up
I wonder if young people today would be willing to wander barefoot?
It's awesome. This marked a shift in world youth culture, and weld culture.
Besides...they were proper starving vagrant hippies at the time...not the Wana be hipsters of today ????
Yea fun time, neh.. surrounded by an endless sea of trash, mud and people so wasted they don't have the sense to pick it up..
Baby boomers were just as spoiled then as they are now, never saw that level of irresponsibility at the Raves I attended, nor Burning Man..
One word.... NASTY!! (More than one word to follow) I've been to Warped Tours that were fricken gross... Hell, I saw a Pineapple fly during Bad Religion.... IN DENVER.... But Woodstock I think will be remembered not only for the music.... But the nastiness.
What nastiness was there at Woodstock? I believe you are thinking about the concert in California a few months later, where 1 man was murdered and 3 others died?
Load More Replies...Having been there; I didn't see these idyllic spots, with all the beautiful people. I saw a number of average looking people, stuck in a field of mud. Some folk wanting to keep their good spots near the stage, were sleeping in the muc. Why weren't those photos taken and shown. All the cars. They were so overwhelmed they couldn't take tickets. It got announced on the radio that the concert was now free and a half a million people showed up.
It was great looking at these photos from Woodstock. One moment in time when people took time out to be human, amongst the horror of the Vietnam War.
Load More Replies...The only thing I learnt from this gallery that man's a*s from back count as "mature content".
It's interesting how the point of view of the photographers (i.e. always snapping pics with the most beautiful and happy people) has shaped our perception of the event as a kind of Adam &Eve style paradise. (Instead of a wet field full of trash without loos, water, food and music that is so far away, you can't hear it) There must have been some normal or plain ugly people there, but you just don't get to see them.
I can't help but wonder what were their job back in real life. I'm sure some of them had quite serious jobs where the tie and suit was a must have. It's funny to think about that.
most where in the beginning of their "active life" so doubt it...but a lot have certainly turned into top capitalist during the following years
Load More Replies...Great pics, but just look at the rubbish everywhere, not much better back then were they? Walking off and leaving it all for someone else to clear it up
I wonder if young people today would be willing to wander barefoot?
It's awesome. This marked a shift in world youth culture, and weld culture.
Besides...they were proper starving vagrant hippies at the time...not the Wana be hipsters of today ????
Yea fun time, neh.. surrounded by an endless sea of trash, mud and people so wasted they don't have the sense to pick it up..
Baby boomers were just as spoiled then as they are now, never saw that level of irresponsibility at the Raves I attended, nor Burning Man..
One word.... NASTY!! (More than one word to follow) I've been to Warped Tours that were fricken gross... Hell, I saw a Pineapple fly during Bad Religion.... IN DENVER.... But Woodstock I think will be remembered not only for the music.... But the nastiness.
What nastiness was there at Woodstock? I believe you are thinking about the concert in California a few months later, where 1 man was murdered and 3 others died?
Load More Replies...