3 Days of Peace & Music
In August of 1969 an event occurred that had perhaps
the largest impact on how 
the
60’s are remembered. Because of this
event we think of hippies, painted school buses, and fun in the mud. We think of Woodstock. The Woodstock Festival of Music and Art
Aquarian Exposition was the brain child of two wealthy, fresh from college,
business students and a couple of record producers. Originally slated for 150 thousand, the numbers (by some
accounts) swelled to over a million, which then dwindled to around 500,00. Many of today’s generation remember the
failed attempt to resurrect the spirit of the original Festival with the
notorious Woodstock 99’. But, if you
look back in history you will discover that the original was no free love
hippie fest. By many 
accounts
the two compare on the amount of death, destruction, and personal injury. The accounts of rape, sexual harassment,
etc. may not be as high, but the amount of sex and nudity is almost equal. What we all remember though is the great
music, naked hippies, and mud. To the
Hippie movement Woodstock came to represent all that was right, but another
music festival would be the beginning of the end for the Hippies. The festival was Altamont. It was largely a concert by the Rolling
Stones. Altamont is remembered mostly
for the death of one young man who was knifed to death by the Hell’s
Angels. As quickly as Woodstock had
added fuel to the fire of the Hippies, Altamont extinguished the flame.
Woodstock Links:
http://www.publiccom.com/14850/9407/coverstory.html
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/sixties/woodstock.html