A Look Back At Woodstock For Its 50th Anniversary
By Shayna Spero
August 16, 2019
Woodstock 50 may no longer be a reality, but the famed music festival is worth a walk down memory lane. Exactly five decades ago, acts like Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Carlos Santana and Richie Havens all came together to celebrate the youth culture of the late ‘60s and it certainly was an event to remember. In honor of the anniversary, iHeartRadio has rounded up some photos from the original Woodstock Festival, which brought together half a million of attendees to Bethel, New York to rejoice in peace, music and love. Scroll on below to see what we mean!
Photo: John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A wide-angle photo shows the huge crowd facing the distant stage during the Woodstock Music & Art Fair.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
American folk-rock singer, John Sebastian performs at the festival. Sebastian was the former lead singer of the band The Lovin' Spoonful.
Photo: Getty Images
A couple on the way to the Bethel, NY event.
Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A group of people stepping over a torn-down fence in order to enter the festival grounds.
Photo: Tucker Ransom/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Guitarist Carlos Santana (right) and bassist David Brown perform with the group Santana.
Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A woman named Psylvia dances in the midst of the crowd.
Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Halsey Clifton, right, standing on the sound-mixing table in the rain.
Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Paul Foster of the Merry Pranksters walks along the festival grounds in a colorful outfit. The Merry Pranksters were a group of friends and family associated with author, Ken Kesey.
Photo: Three Lions/Getty Images
After the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, these young men hitched a lift home in the boot of a car.
Photo: Warner Bros/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
A fan hides out from the rain.
Photo: Getty Images
Singer, Grace Slick performs with the American rock group Jefferson Airplane.
Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A woman with a flute ecstatically raises her arms amid crowd at Woodstock music festival.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
A female festival goer looks at a gallery of photographs by Ralph Ackerman exhibited upon a chain link fence.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
Musician Richie Havens performs onstage at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
Several men lean against a decorated school bus used by the Hog Farmers, a group who had been asked to help construct, ensure security, and provide food for the event.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
A group of festival goers hang from a tent frame as a fourth ties the frame together to form a tent on the festival grounds.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
A unique view of the clouds painted on a tipi during the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair.
Photo: Alvan Meyerowitz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Fans climb a scaffold to get a better view.
Photo: Ralph Ackerman/Getty Images
Indian musicians Ravi Shankar (center) and Alla Rakha (left) perform at the Woodstock festival.
Photo: John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A view of the lit stage at sundown.
Photo: John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
A large crowd of people sit on top of decorated cars & buses.
Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images
American folk musician Joan Baez singing and playing the guitar on stage.
Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images
Stephen Stills (left) and David Crosby of the group Crosby, Stills, & Nash perform on stage.
Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images
Grateful Dead guitarist, Jerry Garcia plays with the band during their Woodstock set.