It was a cold, winter day and we made the trek to Woodstock, NY, the original artists colony, for our annual planning retreat. There was no better place for a team of hippie capitalists to think of the future. Woodstock today is still full of artists, peace symbols, little shops and restaurants and a great vibe. Perfect place for planning and thanks to my sister, Mary, for finding our little Inn.
On our way home, we made a ceremonial visit to the original site of the famed Woodstock concert weekend held in Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY. Alas, the site is actually over 1 hour through the Catskill Mountains from the small town of Woodstock. The concert was originally supposed to be held in Woodstock but they had to search for a larger site to accommodate all of the visitors. Needless to say, it was a great site to see.
Here's some amazing trivia from Wikipedia:
"Woodstock was a profit-making venture, aptly titled "Woodstock Ventures". Around 186,000 tickets were sold beforehand and organizers anticipated approximately 200,000 festival-goers would turn up[5]. The fence was purposely cut by the UAW/MF family in order to create a totally FREE EVENT. Tickets for the event cost US$18 in advance. Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater NYC area, or by mail via a Post Office Box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan.
The festival came amidst military conflict abroad and racial discord at home. It was the biggest bash for the counterculture and is a reminder of the youthful hedonism and excess of the 60s. It was a culmination of what the counterculture meant - the bands appealed to the generation that was questioning the direction of American society. Many of the biggest artists of the 60s were at the Festival, and it was their influence on the youth that brought them together to a farm in Bethel to struggle against bad weather, food shortages and poor sanitation[7]. Minds were open, drugs were available and love was “free”. It was a festival where nearly 500,000 "hippies" came together to celebrate under the slogan of “three days of peace and music”.
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