Member-only story
Coronavirus and Woodstock
The world was in chaos then, and Woodstock helped heal it. The world is in turmoil today; maybe we should remember what it takes to begin healing.
On August 15, 1969, the world woke up to Woodstock: An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music. It was a music festival of gigantic influence that caught the country by surprise. According to Rolling Stone magazine, “it was an event so outrageous and bold it changed the face of America, music, and the world in general.”
Its influence lingers on like the wafting smell of apple pie on Thanksgiving morning. It was the most extensive collection of humans ever assembled in one spot, in peaceful protest, controlled social turmoil, and music. Attendance numbers were over 400,000 people of all races, ages, religions, political views, and sexual preferences.
The event exceeded all expectations. The staging ground was a 600-acre farm pasture in upstate New York. The organizers had food lined up, performers, technicians, police and security, first aid available, a state of the art sound stage. What they didn’t expect was an overwhelming crowd, well beyond expected capacity, combined with an afternoon of drenching thunderstorms. They did not expect the impact on society to be as massive as it became.
When the music began, people kept coming. And they kept coming for the next two days…