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Woodstock Alumni Registry Excerpts
"Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events".
- Albert Einstein
Memories of an event may be imperfect as they change over time with the wisdom of hindsight and age. Some events may become romanticized while others may take on mythic stature. What is important? Is it what an event symbolized when it occurred? Is it the legacy of the event? Whose memories are important – those who attended or those who participated en route? All are valid and varied: all are contained within the registry. While it may be difficult to accurately depict what happened more than 40 years ago, it is important that those who attended or participated tell what they do remember in their own words without third party editorializing or commentary.
We are pleased to share with you excerpts from the Woodstock Alumni Registry. This information is part of our permanent museum archive and serves as a useful research tool for scholars and visitors to learn more about the festival, its participants, and the decade. As people continue to join the registry and share their stories, we will continue to update this page for your enjoyment and research. Our future goal is to create a searchable registry that web visitors may peruse in its entirety.
questions:
do you have a story about getting to the festival?
… somehow I convinced my father to give me his brand new 1969 Chevy Malibu to drive to the concert with my cousin and 2 close friends … I did make a deal with him … if I cut my (long) hair … he would give me the car for the weekend …
Male, Dartmouth, MA
Got to the festival in a VW microbus with friends … left the festival with the woman who I would eventually marry.
Male, Honey Brook, PA
My brother had gotten out of the Army in February of 1969, and my other brother had been discharged on August 11th, both Vietnam Veterans. This was the first time in a long time that all 3 of us had been together.
Male, Minoa, NY
When we got home later on Sunday, Monterey Pop was in the local theater but due to the rating, I was not old enough to get in and see it. Ironic, right?
Male, Mountain Lakes, NJ
What should have taken 35 minutes took 6 hours.
Male, Englishtown, NJ
Made it to within a few miles, parked the car and walked in carrying lots of stuff including a helium tank to fill a large weather balloon that we were going to raise over our tent so that all of our friends could find us. We successfully flew the balloon over the tent for about a half a day until one of the helicopters hit it. I still remember watching the cord come swirling down in front of the tent.
Male, Carlisle, PA
Drove in a fully psychedelic-painted large station wagon.
Male, Silver Spring, MD
One straight line of cars barely moving on Rt. 17B and thinking what are we in for!
Female, Brooklyn, NY
I was summarily grounded but it was worth it.
Male, Baldwin, NY
It was many, many years before I learned that we had actually gone to Bethel and not to Woodstock.
Male, Middleburg, VA
I talked my Dad and my Uncle into giving me a ride up there. We were stuck in traffic for hours, and topless girls were jumping on my Dad’s car to hitch a ride. Dad stopped complaining about mobs of people and traffic at this point; he and my Uncle had a great time, and told their story for years.
Male, Big Pine Key, FL
I remember driving out. We were on our way to Boston and passed out, completely exhausted, on the side of the freeway.
Female, University Place, WA
By the time we got to Woodstock, we’d run out of gas.
Male, Arlington, MA
Cars were everywhere. I asked a local resident if we could park our car at her house. She told us what we could leave the car in her driveway and we should go and enjoy Woodstock. We thanked her and began walking to Woodstock. Everybody along the road leading to the festival was giving us the peace sign and we were smiling and giving it back. It was a great feeling…. We went back to get our car to drive home. When we arrived, the woman (where we had parked the car) asked us if we wanted to have breakfast and invited us into her house. While serving breakfast she offered to wash our clothes (we gladly accepted). We were only two of over a dozen Woodstock attendees that she was providing the same service for. After breakfast, we decided now that we were no longer hungry and had on clean dry clothes and it was time to go back to Woodstock. She was an amazing person and I can’t thank her enough for her kindness and generosity.
Male, The Woodlands, TX
I was 17 and when I got back to my parent’s apartment in the Bronx and I had mud up to my waist – lost my shoes – my parents made me undress in the hallway and throw my dungarees down the incinerator.
Male, New Windsor, NY
When we left the festival after Hendrix played on Monday morning all I could hear was helicopters …
Male, Manchester, NH
The walk into the festival site was a trip to Wonderland. Thousands of folks from around the country, entrepreneurial kids hawking water, warm beer and recreational drugs and herbs. Starry Catskill skies and cool pine trees. (No rain yet.) SMELLS.
Male, Emmaus, PA
I have to admit my mother was very upset that I had left without permission and thought I should go to a girl’s reformatory school for being a delinquent child for my behavior. This of course did not happen, but boy how did I get the grounding of my life!
Female, Kingman, AZ
My girlfriend and I scouted out the location the weekend before while they were building the stage. We arranged to meet because we were coming up separately with different friends at different times … I waited all night long on the road for her, but finally gave up about 5am. I caught a few Z’s and then went down to the pond to bathe. A few minutes later, she found me. She said, “I just followed the naked people, and knew I would find you!”
Female, Waldwick, NJ
The number of people at the site was both thrilling and overwhelming.
Male, Berlin, CT
I was supposed to take my car...myself and four friends. My car decided not to start on Thursday night, so, we made plans to take the bus from Port Authority. It was the best thing that could have happened. Our bus driver knew all the back roads and ours was one of the only buses to make it the whole way. We got a spot on the lawn about 50 yards from the stage and the rest is history.
Male, Long Island City, NY
We were headed to the town of Woodstock when some guys in a gas station in western New York told us that they thought it was in Bethel, not Woodstock. Good thing they told us or we might have missed the event.
Male, Minnetonka, MN
When we got on the subway, our aroma was so fetid that the entire car cleared out as soon as we boarded. Needless to say, after three days wallowing in the mud, we smelled nothing.
I was in the Army at the time, and was on leave prior to going to Vietnam. Man, what a going away party!!!! The festival was one of the most monumental events of my entire life! It LIVES within me!!!!
Male, Peekskill, NY
Everyone getting out of their cars, picking flowers on the wide median, and handing them to those of us still in our cars just stopped on the thruway.
Female, Brewster, NY
The amount of people; the amount of freaky people; the amount of freaky people trying to give us stuff was frankly, scary. I was also gripped by the fear that my parents were going to find out. It was 1969 and things were different. There were no cell phones or computers, so once I was out the front door I was free…… My father died not knowing I was there and my mother still does not know … Incredible, I am in my 50’s and I do not want to let my mother know that I betrayed her trust one weekend 41 years ago.
Male, Bronx, NY
what was your most memorable woodstock experience?
I think seeing all the people and feeling the good energy was the most memorable part of the experience.
Female, Staten Island, NY
Our family was living in White Lake that summer. My mom made pbj sandwiches with Wonder Bread, at least 60 that we gave away at top of Beachwood Road on 17B. My brother and I were giving rides to hippies in our boat all week …. I found 5 bucks on the road, saw people making love in the woods. Naked hippies swimming.
Male, Wallkill, NY
The music was awesome, but the most memorable was swimming in White Lake with hundreds of dudes and gals, all in our birthday suits. At my age (15/16), that was quite memorable.
Male, Baldwin, NY
Rain!! But what a great gathering – everyone got along – swimming in the pond – great music – a huge mess was left afterwards though.
Male, Mount Pleasant, UT
Flying to the site by helicopter and seeing all those undulating colors from above. Amazing, unforgettable site.
Male, Redding, CT
Looking back, I would have to say that being able to participate in a focal point of American cultural history. But at the time, it was the biggest party I ever went to.
Male, Suffern, NY
Walking down a road and seeing thousands of “freaks” and realizing we were not freaks at all. That many, many people were like me and thought like me.
Female, Woodstock, NY
Music, mudslinging and food being dropped from the sky!
Female, Tonawanda, NY
After the rain and sitting in the mud, the smell to this day is in my nostrils … I turned to my left and of all the people I could’ve seen – there was my next door neighbor from my apartment building back in Brooklyn.
Female, Staten Island, NY
An old family friend used to take us fishing at a "fish farm" right on the Woodstock property. This one Saturday we headed up to the quiet country to fish and, where usually we were the only car on the road, we found ourselves in stop dead traffic. We hadn't heard about the festival. As we were not going anywhere in the deadlocked traffic we began walking toward the music until we could see the mass of people and the stage. We stayed until evening when we could finally get our car turned around and drove away from the festival.
Male, Vaughn, WA
The people! The energy was astounding and could be felt from miles away …
Female, Tampa, FL
Running follow spot as part of the lighting crew, working for Chip Monck and Steve Cohen, getting a bird's eye view of every performance between dusk and dawn, hanging out backstage during the day and even getting the opportunity to make some announcements from the stage when Chip needed a break.
Male, Lily Dale, NY
Getting to the field, seeing the mas of humanity and finding seats in the very front. Settled in, turned around and saw friend from home behind us.
Male, Flanders, NJ
Sloshing around in the mud with everyone else, many naked. As an 18 year old boy, I had never seen so many naked bodies before.
Male, Newton, NJ
… I met 2 friends that I did not know were going … I spotted them under a tree when I first walked in … the fence was down where we were, so we just walked in, and one of the guys who was a friend of X and Y was Z … I had not met him before, he was on leave from Vietnam. When he went back to ‘nam he found out his entire company had been killed in a battle. If he had not been on leave for 2 weeks, he would have died and never came home. We always thought that Woodstock saved X’s life.
Male, New Scotland, NY
The heat, the crowds, my mother packing lunches for my brothers, 2 cousins and me including “milk money” and instructing us, “do not give your lunch away to the hippies.”
Female, Lake Oswego, OR
Watching members of the SDS “liberate” food stands from vendors and pass the goods out to mobbing crowds. This incident is rarely (never to my knowledge) reported and it wasn’t a one-time one-vendor event but an organized assault on a number of vendors at one time.
Male, Santa Fe, NM
… coming from the “road” over the rise and seeing the mass of humanity spread out before me.
Female, Myrtle Beach, SC
The planes that dropped flyers saying not to take the yellow dotted pills being distributed.
Female, Akron, OH
At the time, there were few “hippies” in our town. I was overwhelmed with all the fellow freaks I saw at Woodstock.
Male, Camp Hill, PA
I think cresting the edge of the hillside, first seeing all of the people seated in that beautiful natural amphitheater upon arriving has to be the most lasting image of all. It was stunning. … you really couldn’t tell just how many people were there until the moment you reached the top of the knoll, then you knew you “were not in Kansas anymore”.
When they announced that a baby had just been born!
Female, Wallingford, CT
We came to a clearing, which was atop of an incline and looked down at the most remarkable sight – a sea of people – like nothing I had ever seen.
Female, Brandon, VT
It was all memorable from before arrival to exiting and getting home a day later. The visual (all the people), the smells, the sounds (what a sound system).
Male, Deary, ID
One of the best was at the lake when the skinny-dipping started. We had a camp site set up on the lake and that morning, a couple walked up and took their clothes off and walked into the lake. It was a riot watching it all unfold … another couple, another person, another and before you knew it, there were hundreds naked and having a blast!
Male, Bolton Landing, NY
I had so much mud on me, that it clogged the bathroom drain.
Female, Downingtown, PA
As a two week member of an outpatient program fifteen days of heroin free and in very bad shape. Going to the festival was forbidden, soon, I became aware of this powerful feeling, part scared, part hopeful. I used no drugs the whole time. I returned to rehab and graduated and became a paid drug counselor and living a positive life to this day. I credit those three magical days in 1969 the best time of my life, as the inspiration to my recovery.
Male, Rexford, NY
Met a strange guy there. He said he was the 13th son of a 13th son. He took about 7 or 8 pills that he found and subsequently had a very bad trip.
Female, West Nyack, NY
The whole thing! The size of the crowd sticks in my mind the most … lotta FREAKS!
Male, Reading, PA
Waking stiff and muddy to hear the strains of the National Anthem being played on a single guitar in a way that filled me with more emotion than ever before. It was, of course, what would be a memory burned in history by Jimi Hendrix. I had lost several friends in the Vietnam War and a dear uncle was never the same after having served in that war, for the United States Army. That morning was truly awe inspiring.
Female, Hillsboro, OR
The enormity of the event. I was struck by the amount of kids there, the harmony, the music, in the end, it was all about the music.
Female, Liberty, NY
The amazing mass of humanity that was there. And all peacefully assembled.
Male, Gwynn Oak, MD
Attendees were so grungy and sleeping in mud and yet there was relative calm, kindness, and helping helpfulness…
Female, Rochester, NY
We found a door in the middle of the field. There were people dancing on it. The door was sitting just right so it had a bounce to it. There were a few people on it and asked us to join them. They were dancing on the door so we joined them. Well Sly came on playing Higher. We had the door just a Rockin’. To look around and see the waves of people having a good time.
Female, Cedar Springs, MI
It was the biggest tribal gathering in America. I remember the hot days, the rain storm, sliding down a mud hill that had the texture of chocolate pudding then going skinny dipping in the lake behind the stage to clean up and cool down.
Male, Bayside, NY
A biker who was hungry and ate a frog. It was totally gross. It was not a good memory that is for sure.
Female, Fort Mill, SC
As we got to the site after walking all day, the immense crowd we saw as we walked over the rise to the hill was unbelievable. I still have a visual in my mind of just how large and awesome the crowd was.
Female, Bronx, NY
Driving all that time and ending up without seeing a single act. A friend and I drove up from Pittsburgh with our girlfriends. That was Mistake #1. Mistake #2 was listening to them whine about walking that far in mud. Mistake #3 was not dumping them right then and there. My friend and I had both gone to the Atlantic City Pop Festival two weeks before and saw many of the same acts, so we wanted to repeat this glorious experience. We didn’t!
Male, Ocala, FL
The mud and the people.
Male, Lake Worth, FL
I was a good kid but, with 2 sets of tickets in my pocket I climbed over the bent down fence to gain entrance to the festival. I took a great spot center stage about 120 feet from the stage next to a guy from New York sitting on a sleeping bag. I called him Gish? He was memorable because he was prepared for anything. In that bag was enough food and drink for several of us that sat near him, and he shared. As weather got horrid and we all looked haggard, this guy was not bothered at all. He would go into that sleeping bag for about an hour and come out CLEAN, SHAVED, HAIR COMBED AND WITH … A NEW SET OF CLEAN CLOTHES and he did this four times. I don’t know his name but with all of the great things I experienced that week, he is my most memorable. Those of us who were there, wet, dirty, shirtless and shoeless, seeing this guy pack up and leave Monday morning like a beam of light in his “Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes” was a sight that was unforgettable and I often think of that guy and smile.
Male, Fall River, MA
for you, what is the lasting meaning of Woodstock?
At the time it was an experience never to be forgotten, now I realize, I am part of history … as a member of the 400,000 and 1 club … and that is something that can never be taken away and no more members can ever join.
Male, Rhinebeck, NY
One of the craziest, wild, insane, hilarious times I ever had!!!!!!!!
Male, Pearl River, NY
I never imagined that the experience would become legendary. Even in the years following, I thought it was no big deal to have gone through it. With age though, and decreasing recall (LOL) it was indeed great to have been there.
Male, Huntington, NY
I attended after spending 2 years in the military, so the experience of peace and harmony was a healing experience for me.
Male, Pine Bush, NY
The experience opened me up to new music, new thinking, new ideas.
Female, Staten Island, NY
Tremendous experience, the most meaningful is how under duress, so many folks could remain so calm and actually enjoy the moment, and how the community responded with help.
Male, New Braunfels, TX
It made me a conservative.
Male, Brooklyn, NY
This event provided a commonality for all persons that cared to re-evaluate the standards … a kind of show of support for free thinking without being labeled as unpatriotic.
Male, New York, NY
Wonderful memories and a unique performing situation! Never to be repeated since!
Male, Redding, CT
It seemed like a normal weekend to me at the time but now when I look back on it -- it was really special -- met lots of great people and had a blast!
Female, Lodi, NJ
I went there a very confused, naïve 17-year old who did not feel a connection to anyone or anything. I left knowing I was connected to an entire generation of people who thought like I did – a true revelation, and one that has stayed with me throughout my life.
Male, Woodstock, NY
Skeptical about how great mega events (Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl etc.) really are.
Male, Valrico, FL
There is still a karma associated with it that seems always to envelop me and actually keep me young in spirit!
Male, Wilmington, DE
Along with Kent State and the March on Washington, it was the defining event of my college years which were the defining years of my life.
Male, St. Petersburg, FL
People were wonderful, helpful, courteous, and politics, religion and other stuff was just not important as the music was the thing. The music was everything … for me it still is.
Male, Monterey, MA
It is one of the best memories of my life.
Female, Sussex, NJ
Has it changed my life? No, but it was a great and wonderful experience that has left me with some fabulous stories to tell my kids!!
Male, Jamaica Plain, MA
I was drafted shortly after Woodstock ... did a couple tours in Vietnam with the Navy ’71-75. Woodstock was probably my last hurrah before true adulthood. Bragging rights.
Male, Plantation, FL
It’s a link to my past and my friends of that era, whom I still stay in touch with.
Male, Singapore, Singapore
It opened my eyes at an early age to the basic goodness and adaptability of the human spirit and how we can come to another's aid in difficult times.
Male, Coventry, CT
At Woodstock, I met a NY State police officer who impressed me greatly in the way that he conducted himself and in the way that he treated me and many others with respect to dignity that was probably not always deserved. After college I became a police officer, retired after 29 years, and am now a magistrate judge in Georgia.
Male, Ringgold, GA
I don’t talk about it much. I do, however, think about it often … and smile.
Male, Danbury, CT
A life changing experience. Made me see how different people are not that different at all. I live by that philosophy to this day.
Male, Wilton, NY
The Woodstock experience put me on a course to play music forever …
Male, Dartmouth, MA
It didn’t change the person that I am today, it is just a part of my history.
Female, Jericho, NY
Music. I studied it with several teachers. Majored in it in college. I gig regularly today. It was THE pivotal event that shaped a huge piece of my life.
Male, Pomona, CA
It changed my whole dimension on daily life. We connected with so many different kinds of people. I realized it is all about getting along and keeping a smile on your face. I’ve practiced that all my life.
Male, Niantic, CT
I took it in stride and am surprised now at people’s reaction when I tell them I was there. I did not have much time to reflect on it then. A year later I was in Vietnam. It is only now that I look back and reflect. “What a long strange trip is has been.”
Male, Deary, ID
This was the beginning of my future. Because of the festival I was fortunate to meet the love of my life. We have been married for 36 years, have 3 wonderful children and 3 grandchildren.
Female, Sparta, NJ
The Vietnam War, the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy just a year before galvanized us to work towards a better life for each other.
Male, Minoa, NY
To actually be a part of that kind of unique time in history where 500,000 people gathered on this fabulous farm with one common goal and thought, and that was to celebrate life, peace, and the love of good music. We did this peacefully and that is what makes it so unique because even though many have tried, it will never be replicated again …
Female, Liberty, NY
I think I came away from Woodstock with the feeling we could change the world or at least make a difference. I no longer felt like I was the only one with long haired ideals.
Male, Niskayuna, NY
I shared a very special slice of time with 400,000 other humans that I doubt could ever be repeated.
Male, Manotick, Ontario, Canada
While we were there it didn’t feel exceptionally special but as the years go by people get a kick out of hearing that I went.
Male, Sleepy Hollow, NY
We recognized the experience of Woodstock as the beginning of a tremendous change in American society – whether for good or bad, do not know. Hated the iconoclastic part, but loved the human warmth and spreading of love and peace… The site did seem to be “sacred” in many ways. It was the birth spot of so many good movements in our country, and yet bred some very iconoclastic ways for many as well. Hated to see some of the breakdown of wholesome morals and values replaced by the freedom to do anything that pleased. Overall, it was an experience that will never be forgotten.
Female, Smallwood, NY
I was only 17 at the time but have come to realize what a special time and special event it really was. It has been tried but can never be duplicated. The peacefulness and joy were truly unique.
Male, Chester, NY
…a phenomenal “coming together” of so many people. It was truly a once in a lifetime thing.
Female, Warick, NY
Classic rock and Woodstock memories can make a baby boomer still feel young again.
Male, Summit, NJ
All those people with some form of inebriation or altered conscious and no violence, no one harming anyone and still people all over each other.
Male, Suffern, NY
For the first time in my life it made me feel a part of something that was bigger than myself.
Male, Wurtsboro, NY
It was nice to have been part of a seminal event. Coming after the disastrous events of 1968 and the awakening of my own political consciousness, it made me all the more aware of the power of a vision, a collective idea, and the potential force of my generation. It also made me realize the benefits of dry socks.
Male, Monticello, NY
I was part of history.
Female, Tuxedo Park, NY
I may be in the minority but I really did not enjoy it one bit. It was an adventure that I would not want to have to relive. I have to read about it and watch the movie to refresh my memory and know what really went on. No, I did not do major drugs so that is not an issue with my memory.
Female, Cypress, TX
It was an experience that will not, and could not, in today’s world, happen again. For one weekend, order came out of what could have been a disaster. The music was the glue, but it was so much more. People looked out for each other, and took care of total strangers. We were different, but all the same. We were humanity under the microscope of the world. If we failed, then everything that we tried to represent would have been a joke to them. But we didn’t, and for that brief moment in time, we showed how peace, love, and understanding actually worked. Was that such a bad thing? Utopian ideas maybe, but it did happen and I was there, and I’m proud to say I was! Although times have changed, I still try to keep some of what I learned at the Woodstock Nation, and hope for a better world someday!!
Male, Palmyra, NY
I realized how naïve a lot of us had been to think that the peaceful atmosphere at Woodstock would continue to spread throughout society.
Female, Houston, TX
While I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, being 16 and living in a car with 3 friends with no food for four days taught me to prepare better (this was done on a whim).
Male, Woodstock, CT
It has been partially responsible for the way I live today … any my summers have been devoted to going to concerts and festivals.
Female, Oneonta, NY
It was a special time in history, when everyone attending was only there to have a good time. And a good time was had by one and all.
Male, Phoenix, AZ
I am a part of Woodstock generation and its history forever.
Female, Bayonne, NJ
I don’t think the significance of this life altering event was apparent until many years later when people kept visiting the site and it became an icon of the ‘60s.
Male, Kenoza Lake, NY
It was a gathering of people who were peaceful and happy to help each other. It was the best music in the universe by performers who will never ever be replaced. It was a farm in upstate New York which somehow turned into the symbol of the Peace and Love generation of the Sixties. It was magic – pure and simple – and it created a beautiful and meaningful memory which will last for my lifetime and evermore.
Female, Fullerton, CA
Nothing mystical or life-changing. It was just a fun, fun time. Seeing so many of our favorite bands in one place was fantastic. This was the first music festival I had been to.
Male, Burke, VA
… Woodstock jump-started a life-long love of music, which has led me to many other festivals, such as Bonnaroo, Merlefest, Gathering of the Vibes, HardlyStricklyBluegrass, etc.
Male, Millwood, NY
It has provided a wonderful memory and, more important, has shown that we cannot recreate something so spontaneous and innocent. Sometimes the stars simply align and we are awake to see it. In many ways it was the last gasp of innocence of a generation. One the other hand, it was just a concert … we boomers can over-romanticize virtually anything.
Male, Liberty, NY
Being 19 years old, it restored my faith in my generation. I realized that a half a million kids, could come together, under the WORST conditions, and collectively share and care for each other. I knew they were going to go out, across this great country of ours, and share those values of peace and co-operation. They would grow up, get jobs, and raise families, safe in the knowledge and appreciation, of the kind and wonderful spirit of America.
Male, Stamford, CT
This was the most influential and memorable experience of my life. It showed me that there was far more to life than the little upstate NY rural community that I hailed from. It also taught me the power of a large crowd of people (and the not so terrific things that naturally occur).
Female, Oneida, NY
It filled my life with hope and promise. It gave my spirit an element of joy for living that has never left me. My life’s work has been one of giving back … embracing my global community … all thanks to the spirit of love and peace I found there.
Female, Pennsauken, NJ
After returning home to find the festival was front page news on TV and in the newspapers, I told anyone who asked that I merely went to a rock concert, but I returned from a cultural phenomenon.
Male, Camp Hill, PA
It started out very philosophical then it just became sex, drugs, and Rock N’ Roll (in retrospect).
Male, Bethlehem, PA
I told my son that Woodstock was not just a concert, it was a place in time and a frame of mind. Forty years later, and I still feel the way I did then.
Female, Little Neck, NY
Peace, love, and understanding is still growing. We were the foot soldiers of a revolution in human values that continues to this day in myriad forms.
Male, Weston, CT
It was a unique experience. I was surprised at the size of the event and the publicity it produced. Of course people are always impressed that I “was there”. They wish they were, but I am not sure what they would have thought if they had been. It was a bit of an ordeal.
Male, Bedford, VA
It was at that point and time the greatest musical experience of my life and it encouraged me to go see more musical acts. … My love for music has never died. It was all about the music and I feel fortunate that I lived thru the greatest period of time in musical history.
Male, Middletown, NY
You knew a statement about life and spirituality was being made to the entire world and you were part of making that statement.
Female, University Place, WA
I look back with fond memories, what a blast we had.
Female, Buffalo, NY
I learned the importance of sharing and the joy of giving to others.
Male, East Setauket, NY
become part of the registry
The Museum at Bethel Woods is building the official registry of those who attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. We invite you to join this historic database and tell your story about your festival experience. The information that you provide will become part of the permanent museum archive and will be a useful research tool for visitors and scholars to learn more about the festival and its participants to enrich our understanding about the festival and the decade.
Become part of the history and join the registry today.
If you know someone with a remembrance, please encourage them to join the registry!
Woodstock Alumni Registry Excerpts
"Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events".
- Albert Einstein
Memories of an event may be imperfect as they change over time with the wisdom of hindsight and age. Some events may become romanticized while others may take on mythic stature. What is important? Is it what an event symbolized when it occurred? Is it the legacy of the event? Whose memories are important – those who attended or those who participated en route? All are valid and varied: all are contained within the registry. While it may be difficult to accurately depict what happened more than 40 years ago, it is important that those who attended or participated tell what they do remember in their own words without third party editorializing or commentary.
We are pleased to share with you excerpts from the Woodstock Alumni Registry. This information is part of our permanent museum archive and serves as a useful research tool for scholars and visitors to learn more about the festival, its participants, and the decade. As people continue to join the registry and share their stories, we will continue to update this page for your enjoyment and research. Our future goal is to create a searchable registry that web visitors may peruse in its entirety.
questions:
do you have a story about getting to the festival?
… somehow I convinced my father to give me his brand new 1969 Chevy Malibu to drive to the concert with my cousin and 2 close friends … I did make a deal with him … if I cut my (long) hair … he would give me the car for the weekend …
Male, Dartmouth, MA
Got to the festival in a VW microbus with friends … left the festival with the woman who I would eventually marry.
Male, Honey Brook, PA
My brother had gotten out of the Army in February of 1969, and my other brother had been discharged on August 11th, both Vietnam Veterans. This was the first time in a long time that all 3 of us had been together.
Male, Minoa, NY
When we got home later on Sunday, Monterey Pop was in the local theater but due to the rating, I was not old enough to get in and see it. Ironic, right?
Male, Mountain Lakes, NJ
What should have taken 35 minutes took 6 hours.
Male, Englishtown, NJ
Made it to within a few miles, parked the car and walked in carrying lots of stuff including a helium tank to fill a large weather balloon that we were going to raise over our tent so that all of our friends could find us. We successfully flew the balloon over the tent for about a half a day until one of the helicopters hit it. I still remember watching the cord come swirling down in front of the tent.
Male, Carlisle, PA
Drove in a fully psychedelic-painted large station wagon.
Male, Silver Spring, MD
One straight line of cars barely moving on Rt. 17B and thinking what are we in for!
Female, Brooklyn, NY
I was summarily grounded but it was worth it.
Male, Baldwin, NY
It was many, many years before I learned that we had actually gone to Bethel and not to Woodstock.
Male, Middleburg, VA
I talked my Dad and my Uncle into giving me a ride up there. We were stuck in traffic for hours, and topless girls were jumping on my Dad’s car to hitch a ride. Dad stopped complaining about mobs of people and traffic at this point; he and my Uncle had a great time, and told their story for years.
Male, Big Pine Key, FL
I remember driving out. We were on our way to Boston and passed out, completely exhausted, on the side of the freeway.
Female, University Place, WA
By the time we got to Woodstock, we’d run out of gas.
Male, Arlington, MA
Cars were everywhere. I asked a local resident if we could park our car at her house. She told us what we could leave the car in her driveway and we should go and enjoy Woodstock. We thanked her and began walking to Woodstock. Everybody along the road leading to the festival was giving us the peace sign and we were smiling and giving it back. It was a great feeling…. We went back to get our car to drive home. When we arrived, the woman (where we had parked the car) asked us if we wanted to have breakfast and invited us into her house. While serving breakfast she offered to wash our clothes (we gladly accepted). We were only two of over a dozen Woodstock attendees that she was providing the same service for. After breakfast, we decided now that we were no longer hungry and had on clean dry clothes and it was time to go back to Woodstock. She was an amazing person and I can’t thank her enough for her kindness and generosity.
Male, The Woodlands, TX
I was 17 and when I got back to my parent’s apartment in the Bronx and I had mud up to my waist – lost my shoes – my parents made me undress in the hallway and throw my dungarees down the incinerator.
Male, New Windsor, NY
When we left the festival after Hendrix played on Monday morning all I could hear was helicopters …
Male, Manchester, NH
The walk into the festival site was a trip to Wonderland. Thousands of folks from around the country, entrepreneurial kids hawking water, warm beer and recreational drugs and herbs. Starry Catskill skies and cool pine trees. (No rain yet.) SMELLS.
Male, Emmaus, PA
I have to admit my mother was very upset that I had left without permission and thought I should go to a girl’s reformatory school for being a delinquent child for my behavior. This of course did not happen, but boy how did I get the grounding of my life!
Female, Kingman, AZ
My girlfriend and I scouted out the location the weekend before while they were building the stage. We arranged to meet because we were coming up separately with different friends at different times … I waited all night long on the road for her, but finally gave up about 5am. I caught a few Z’s and then went down to the pond to bathe. A few minutes later, she found me. She said, “I just followed the naked people, and knew I would find you!”
Female, Waldwick, NJ
The number of people at the site was both thrilling and overwhelming.
Male, Berlin, CT
I was supposed to take my car...myself and four friends. My car decided not to start on Thursday night, so, we made plans to take the bus from Port Authority. It was the best thing that could have happened. Our bus driver knew all the back roads and ours was one of the only buses to make it the whole way. We got a spot on the lawn about 50 yards from the stage and the rest is history.
Male, Long Island City, NY
We were headed to the town of Woodstock when some guys in a gas station in western New York told us that they thought it was in Bethel, not Woodstock. Good thing they told us or we might have missed the event.
Male, Minnetonka, MN
When we got on the subway, our aroma was so fetid that the entire car cleared out as soon as we boarded. Needless to say, after three days wallowing in the mud, we smelled nothing.
I was in the Army at the time, and was on leave prior to going to Vietnam. Man, what a going away party!!!! The festival was one of the most monumental events of my entire life! It LIVES within me!!!!
Male, Peekskill, NY
Everyone getting out of their cars, picking flowers on the wide median, and handing them to those of us still in our cars just stopped on the thruway.
Female, Brewster, NY
The amount of people; the amount of freaky people; the amount of freaky people trying to give us stuff was frankly, scary. I was also gripped by the fear that my parents were going to find out. It was 1969 and things were different. There were no cell phones or computers, so once I was out the front door I was free…… My father died not knowing I was there and my mother still does not know … Incredible, I am in my 50’s and I do not want to let my mother know that I betrayed her trust one weekend 41 years ago.
Male, Bronx, NY
what was your most memorable woodstock experience?
I think seeing all the people and feeling the good energy was the most memorable part of the experience.
Female, Staten Island, NY
Our family was living in White Lake that summer. My mom made pbj sandwiches with Wonder Bread, at least 60 that we gave away at top of Beachwood Road on 17B. My brother and I were giving rides to hippies in our boat all week …. I found 5 bucks on the road, saw people making love in the woods. Naked hippies swimming.
Male, Wallkill, NY
The music was awesome, but the most memorable was swimming in White Lake with hundreds of dudes and gals, all in our birthday suits. At my age (15/16), that was quite memorable.
Male, Baldwin, NY
Rain!! But what a great gathering – everyone got along – swimming in the pond – great music – a huge mess was left afterwards though.
Male, Mount Pleasant, UT
Flying to the site by helicopter and seeing all those undulating colors from above. Amazing, unforgettable site.
Male, Redding, CT
Looking back, I would have to say that being able to participate in a focal point of American cultural history. But at the time, it was the biggest party I ever went to.
Male, Suffern, NY
Walking down a road and seeing thousands of “freaks” and realizing we were not freaks at all. That many, many people were like me and thought like me.
Female, Woodstock, NY
Music, mudslinging and food being dropped from the sky!
Female, Tonawanda, NY
After the rain and sitting in the mud, the smell to this day is in my nostrils … I turned to my left and of all the people I could’ve seen – there was my next door neighbor from my apartment building back in Brooklyn.
Female, Staten Island, NY
An old family friend used to take us fishing at a "fish farm" right on the Woodstock property. This one Saturday we headed up to the quiet country to fish and, where usually we were the only car on the road, we found ourselves in stop dead traffic. We hadn't heard about the festival. As we were not going anywhere in the deadlocked traffic we began walking toward the music until we could see the mass of people and the stage. We stayed until evening when we could finally get our car turned around and drove away from the festival.
Male, Vaughn, WA
The people! The energy was astounding and could be felt from miles away …
Female, Tampa, FL
Running follow spot as part of the lighting crew, working for Chip Monck and Steve Cohen, getting a bird's eye view of every performance between dusk and dawn, hanging out backstage during the day and even getting the opportunity to make some announcements from the stage when Chip needed a break.
Male, Lily Dale, NY
Getting to the field, seeing the mas of humanity and finding seats in the very front. Settled in, turned around and saw friend from home behind us.
Male, Flanders, NJ
Sloshing around in the mud with everyone else, many naked. As an 18 year old boy, I had never seen so many naked bodies before.
Male, Newton, NJ
… I met 2 friends that I did not know were going … I spotted them under a tree when I first walked in … the fence was down where we were, so we just walked in, and one of the guys who was a friend of X and Y was Z … I had not met him before, he was on leave from Vietnam. When he went back to ‘nam he found out his entire company had been killed in a battle. If he had not been on leave for 2 weeks, he would have died and never came home. We always thought that Woodstock saved X’s life.
Male, New Scotland, NY
The heat, the crowds, my mother packing lunches for my brothers, 2 cousins and me including “milk money” and instructing us, “do not give your lunch away to the hippies.”
Female, Lake Oswego, OR
Watching members of the SDS “liberate” food stands from vendors and pass the goods out to mobbing crowds. This incident is rarely (never to my knowledge) reported and it wasn’t a one-time one-vendor event but an organized assault on a number of vendors at one time.
Male, Santa Fe, NM
… coming from the “road” over the rise and seeing the mass of humanity spread out before me.
Female, Myrtle Beach, SC
The planes that dropped flyers saying not to take the yellow dotted pills being distributed.
Female, Akron, OH
At the time, there were few “hippies” in our town. I was overwhelmed with all the fellow freaks I saw at Woodstock.
Male, Camp Hill, PA
I think cresting the edge of the hillside, first seeing all of the people seated in that beautiful natural amphitheater upon arriving has to be the most lasting image of all. It was stunning. … you really couldn’t tell just how many people were there until the moment you reached the top of the knoll, then you knew you “were not in Kansas anymore”.
When they announced that a baby had just been born!
Female, Wallingford, CT
We came to a clearing, which was atop of an incline and looked down at the most remarkable sight – a sea of people – like nothing I had ever seen.
Female, Brandon, VT
It was all memorable from before arrival to exiting and getting home a day later. The visual (all the people), the smells, the sounds (what a sound system).
Male, Deary, ID
One of the best was at the lake when the skinny-dipping started. We had a camp site set up on the lake and that morning, a couple walked up and took their clothes off and walked into the lake. It was a riot watching it all unfold … another couple, another person, another and before you knew it, there were hundreds naked and having a blast!
Male, Bolton Landing, NY
I had so much mud on me, that it clogged the bathroom drain.
Female, Downingtown, PA
As a two week member of an outpatient program fifteen days of heroin free and in very bad shape. Going to the festival was forbidden, soon, I became aware of this powerful feeling, part scared, part hopeful. I used no drugs the whole time. I returned to rehab and graduated and became a paid drug counselor and living a positive life to this day. I credit those three magical days in 1969 the best time of my life, as the inspiration to my recovery.
Male, Rexford, NY
Met a strange guy there. He said he was the 13th son of a 13th son. He took about 7 or 8 pills that he found and subsequently had a very bad trip.
Female, West Nyack, NY
The whole thing! The size of the crowd sticks in my mind the most … lotta FREAKS!
Male, Reading, PA
Waking stiff and muddy to hear the strains of the National Anthem being played on a single guitar in a way that filled me with more emotion than ever before. It was, of course, what would be a memory burned in history by Jimi Hendrix. I had lost several friends in the Vietnam War and a dear uncle was never the same after having served in that war, for the United States Army. That morning was truly awe inspiring.
Female, Hillsboro, OR
The enormity of the event. I was struck by the amount of kids there, the harmony, the music, in the end, it was all about the music.
Female, Liberty, NY
The amazing mass of humanity that was there. And all peacefully assembled.
Male, Gwynn Oak, MD
Attendees were so grungy and sleeping in mud and yet there was relative calm, kindness, and helping helpfulness…
Female, Rochester, NY
We found a door in the middle of the field. There were people dancing on it. The door was sitting just right so it had a bounce to it. There were a few people on it and asked us to join them. They were dancing on the door so we joined them. Well Sly came on playing Higher. We had the door just a Rockin’. To look around and see the waves of people having a good time.
Female, Cedar Springs, MI
It was the biggest tribal gathering in America. I remember the hot days, the rain storm, sliding down a mud hill that had the texture of chocolate pudding then going skinny dipping in the lake behind the stage to clean up and cool down.
Male, Bayside, NY
A biker who was hungry and ate a frog. It was totally gross. It was not a good memory that is for sure.
Female, Fort Mill, SC
As we got to the site after walking all day, the immense crowd we saw as we walked over the rise to the hill was unbelievable. I still have a visual in my mind of just how large and awesome the crowd was.
Female, Bronx, NY
Driving all that time and ending up without seeing a single act. A friend and I drove up from Pittsburgh with our girlfriends. That was Mistake #1. Mistake #2 was listening to them whine about walking that far in mud. Mistake #3 was not dumping them right then and there. My friend and I had both gone to the Atlantic City Pop Festival two weeks before and saw many of the same acts, so we wanted to repeat this glorious experience. We didn’t!
Male, Ocala, FL
The mud and the people.
Male, Lake Worth, FL
I was a good kid but, with 2 sets of tickets in my pocket I climbed over the bent down fence to gain entrance to the festival. I took a great spot center stage about 120 feet from the stage next to a guy from New York sitting on a sleeping bag. I called him Gish? He was memorable because he was prepared for anything. In that bag was enough food and drink for several of us that sat near him, and he shared. As weather got horrid and we all looked haggard, this guy was not bothered at all. He would go into that sleeping bag for about an hour and come out CLEAN, SHAVED, HAIR COMBED AND WITH … A NEW SET OF CLEAN CLOTHES and he did this four times. I don’t know his name but with all of the great things I experienced that week, he is my most memorable. Those of us who were there, wet, dirty, shirtless and shoeless, seeing this guy pack up and leave Monday morning like a beam of light in his “Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes” was a sight that was unforgettable and I often think of that guy and smile.
Male, Fall River, MA
for you, what is the lasting meaning of Woodstock?
At the time it was an experience never to be forgotten, now I realize, I am part of history … as a member of the 400,000 and 1 club … and that is something that can never be taken away and no more members can ever join.
Male, Rhinebeck, NY
One of the craziest, wild, insane, hilarious times I ever had!!!!!!!!
Male, Pearl River, NY
I never imagined that the experience would become legendary. Even in the years following, I thought it was no big deal to have gone through it. With age though, and decreasing recall (LOL) it was indeed great to have been there.
Male, Huntington, NY
I attended after spending 2 years in the military, so the experience of peace and harmony was a healing experience for me.
Male, Pine Bush, NY
The experience opened me up to new music, new thinking, new ideas.
Female, Staten Island, NY
Tremendous experience, the most meaningful is how under duress, so many folks could remain so calm and actually enjoy the moment, and how the community responded with help.
Male, New Braunfels, TX
It made me a conservative.
Male, Brooklyn, NY
This event provided a commonality for all persons that cared to re-evaluate the standards … a kind of show of support for free thinking without being labeled as unpatriotic.
Male, New York, NY
Wonderful memories and a unique performing situation! Never to be repeated since!
Male, Redding, CT
It seemed like a normal weekend to me at the time but now when I look back on it -- it was really special -- met lots of great people and had a blast!
Female, Lodi, NJ
I went there a very confused, naïve 17-year old who did not feel a connection to anyone or anything. I left knowing I was connected to an entire generation of people who thought like I did – a true revelation, and one that has stayed with me throughout my life.
Male, Woodstock, NY
Skeptical about how great mega events (Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl etc.) really are.
Male, Valrico, FL
There is still a karma associated with it that seems always to envelop me and actually keep me young in spirit!
Male, Wilmington, DE
Along with Kent State and the March on Washington, it was the defining event of my college years which were the defining years of my life.
Male, St. Petersburg, FL
People were wonderful, helpful, courteous, and politics, religion and other stuff was just not important as the music was the thing. The music was everything … for me it still is.
Male, Monterey, MA
It is one of the best memories of my life.
Female, Sussex, NJ
Has it changed my life? No, but it was a great and wonderful experience that has left me with some fabulous stories to tell my kids!!
Male, Jamaica Plain, MA
I was drafted shortly after Woodstock ... did a couple tours in Vietnam with the Navy ’71-75. Woodstock was probably my last hurrah before true adulthood. Bragging rights.
Male, Plantation, FL
It’s a link to my past and my friends of that era, whom I still stay in touch with.
Male, Singapore, Singapore
It opened my eyes at an early age to the basic goodness and adaptability of the human spirit and how we can come to another's aid in difficult times.
Male, Coventry, CT
At Woodstock, I met a NY State police officer who impressed me greatly in the way that he conducted himself and in the way that he treated me and many others with respect to dignity that was probably not always deserved. After college I became a police officer, retired after 29 years, and am now a magistrate judge in Georgia.
Male, Ringgold, GA
I don’t talk about it much. I do, however, think about it often … and smile.
Male, Danbury, CT
A life changing experience. Made me see how different people are not that different at all. I live by that philosophy to this day.
Male, Wilton, NY
The Woodstock experience put me on a course to play music forever …
Male, Dartmouth, MA
It didn’t change the person that I am today, it is just a part of my history.
Female, Jericho, NY
Music. I studied it with several teachers. Majored in it in college. I gig regularly today. It was THE pivotal event that shaped a huge piece of my life.
Male, Pomona, CA
It changed my whole dimension on daily life. We connected with so many different kinds of people. I realized it is all about getting along and keeping a smile on your face. I’ve practiced that all my life.
Male, Niantic, CT
I took it in stride and am surprised now at people’s reaction when I tell them I was there. I did not have much time to reflect on it then. A year later I was in Vietnam. It is only now that I look back and reflect. “What a long strange trip is has been.”
Male, Deary, ID
This was the beginning of my future. Because of the festival I was fortunate to meet the love of my life. We have been married for 36 years, have 3 wonderful children and 3 grandchildren.
Female, Sparta, NJ
The Vietnam War, the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy just a year before galvanized us to work towards a better life for each other.
Male, Minoa, NY
To actually be a part of that kind of unique time in history where 500,000 people gathered on this fabulous farm with one common goal and thought, and that was to celebrate life, peace, and the love of good music. We did this peacefully and that is what makes it so unique because even though many have tried, it will never be replicated again …
Female, Liberty, NY
I think I came away from Woodstock with the feeling we could change the world or at least make a difference. I no longer felt like I was the only one with long haired ideals.
Male, Niskayuna, NY
I shared a very special slice of time with 400,000 other humans that I doubt could ever be repeated.
Male, Manotick, Ontario, Canada
While we were there it didn’t feel exceptionally special but as the years go by people get a kick out of hearing that I went.
Male, Sleepy Hollow, NY
We recognized the experience of Woodstock as the beginning of a tremendous change in American society – whether for good or bad, do not know. Hated the iconoclastic part, but loved the human warmth and spreading of love and peace… The site did seem to be “sacred” in many ways. It was the birth spot of so many good movements in our country, and yet bred some very iconoclastic ways for many as well. Hated to see some of the breakdown of wholesome morals and values replaced by the freedom to do anything that pleased. Overall, it was an experience that will never be forgotten.
Female, Smallwood, NY
I was only 17 at the time but have come to realize what a special time and special event it really was. It has been tried but can never be duplicated. The peacefulness and joy were truly unique.
Male, Chester, NY
…a phenomenal “coming together” of so many people. It was truly a once in a lifetime thing.
Female, Warick, NY
Classic rock and Woodstock memories can make a baby boomer still feel young again.
Male, Summit, NJ
All those people with some form of inebriation or altered conscious and no violence, no one harming anyone and still people all over each other.
Male, Suffern, NY
For the first time in my life it made me feel a part of something that was bigger than myself.
Male, Wurtsboro, NY
It was nice to have been part of a seminal event. Coming after the disastrous events of 1968 and the awakening of my own political consciousness, it made me all the more aware of the power of a vision, a collective idea, and the potential force of my generation. It also made me realize the benefits of dry socks.
Male, Monticello, NY
I was part of history.
Female, Tuxedo Park, NY
I may be in the minority but I really did not enjoy it one bit. It was an adventure that I would not want to have to relive. I have to read about it and watch the movie to refresh my memory and know what really went on. No, I did not do major drugs so that is not an issue with my memory.
Female, Cypress, TX
It was an experience that will not, and could not, in today’s world, happen again. For one weekend, order came out of what could have been a disaster. The music was the glue, but it was so much more. People looked out for each other, and took care of total strangers. We were different, but all the same. We were humanity under the microscope of the world. If we failed, then everything that we tried to represent would have been a joke to them. But we didn’t, and for that brief moment in time, we showed how peace, love, and understanding actually worked. Was that such a bad thing? Utopian ideas maybe, but it did happen and I was there, and I’m proud to say I was! Although times have changed, I still try to keep some of what I learned at the Woodstock Nation, and hope for a better world someday!!
Male, Palmyra, NY
I realized how naïve a lot of us had been to think that the peaceful atmosphere at Woodstock would continue to spread throughout society.
Female, Houston, TX
While I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, being 16 and living in a car with 3 friends with no food for four days taught me to prepare better (this was done on a whim).
Male, Woodstock, CT
It has been partially responsible for the way I live today … any my summers have been devoted to going to concerts and festivals.
Female, Oneonta, NY
It was a special time in history, when everyone attending was only there to have a good time. And a good time was had by one and all.
Male, Phoenix, AZ
I am a part of Woodstock generation and its history forever.
Female, Bayonne, NJ
I don’t think the significance of this life altering event was apparent until many years later when people kept visiting the site and it became an icon of the ‘60s.
Male, Kenoza Lake, NY
It was a gathering of people who were peaceful and happy to help each other. It was the best music in the universe by performers who will never ever be replaced. It was a farm in upstate New York which somehow turned into the symbol of the Peace and Love generation of the Sixties. It was magic – pure and simple – and it created a beautiful and meaningful memory which will last for my lifetime and evermore.
Female, Fullerton, CA
Nothing mystical or life-changing. It was just a fun, fun time. Seeing so many of our favorite bands in one place was fantastic. This was the first music festival I had been to.
Male, Burke, VA
… Woodstock jump-started a life-long love of music, which has led me to many other festivals, such as Bonnaroo, Merlefest, Gathering of the Vibes, HardlyStricklyBluegrass, etc.
Male, Millwood, NY
It has provided a wonderful memory and, more important, has shown that we cannot recreate something so spontaneous and innocent. Sometimes the stars simply align and we are awake to see it. In many ways it was the last gasp of innocence of a generation. One the other hand, it was just a concert … we boomers can over-romanticize virtually anything.
Male, Liberty, NY
Being 19 years old, it restored my faith in my generation. I realized that a half a million kids, could come together, under the WORST conditions, and collectively share and care for each other. I knew they were going to go out, across this great country of ours, and share those values of peace and co-operation. They would grow up, get jobs, and raise families, safe in the knowledge and appreciation, of the kind and wonderful spirit of America.
Male, Stamford, CT
This was the most influential and memorable experience of my life. It showed me that there was far more to life than the little upstate NY rural community that I hailed from. It also taught me the power of a large crowd of people (and the not so terrific things that naturally occur).
Female, Oneida, NY
It filled my life with hope and promise. It gave my spirit an element of joy for living that has never left me. My life’s work has been one of giving back … embracing my global community … all thanks to the spirit of love and peace I found there.
Female, Pennsauken, NJ
After returning home to find the festival was front page news on TV and in the newspapers, I told anyone who asked that I merely went to a rock concert, but I returned from a cultural phenomenon.
Male, Camp Hill, PA
It started out very philosophical then it just became sex, drugs, and Rock N’ Roll (in retrospect).
Male, Bethlehem, PA
I told my son that Woodstock was not just a concert, it was a place in time and a frame of mind. Forty years later, and I still feel the way I did then.
Female, Little Neck, NY
Peace, love, and understanding is still growing. We were the foot soldiers of a revolution in human values that continues to this day in myriad forms.
Male, Weston, CT
It was a unique experience. I was surprised at the size of the event and the publicity it produced. Of course people are always impressed that I “was there”. They wish they were, but I am not sure what they would have thought if they had been. It was a bit of an ordeal.
Male, Bedford, VA
It was at that point and time the greatest musical experience of my life and it encouraged me to go see more musical acts. … My love for music has never died. It was all about the music and I feel fortunate that I lived thru the greatest period of time in musical history.
Male, Middletown, NY
You knew a statement about life and spirituality was being made to the entire world and you were part of making that statement.
Female, University Place, WA
I look back with fond memories, what a blast we had.
Female, Buffalo, NY
I learned the importance of sharing and the joy of giving to others.
Male, East Setauket, NY
become part of the registry
The Museum at Bethel Woods is building the official registry of those who attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. We invite you to join this historic database and tell your story about your festival experience. The information that you provide will become part of the permanent museum archive and will be a useful research tool for visitors and scholars to learn more about the festival and its participants to enrich our understanding about the festival and the decade.
Become part of the history and join the registry today.
If you know someone with a remembrance, please encourage them to join the registry!
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