History of WoodstockWhat is Woodstock? It is one of the most famous festivals in history thanks to the four young people John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artic Kohn and Mike Lang. They were three days of peace and music. It took a lot of planning, a lot of things didn't go right, for example the location. They had planned to hold the event in Wallkill, New York, but the city didn't want to hold the festival there due to all the Vietnam violence weeks before. They all went crazy trying to hurry up and find a new location. Luckily a man named Max Yasgur told the men that they could use his six hundred acre farm in Bethel, New York. (McLeese)Friday August 15, 1969. The first day of the festival, it was a little crazy the streets were clogged. People were leaving their cars there to race to the festival, which caused a big problem. Only a few musicians managed to arrive before the traffic jam, the others had to be transported by helicopter. Who were some of these people you might ask. Well, we have Richie Haven, Ravi Shankar, Tim Hardin, Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Melanie Safka, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez. ("Woodstock") The first person to play was supposed to be Sweetwater but they were stuck in traffic so Richie Havens had to open the festival. Richie didn't want to open the show and kept making excuses, but Michael Lang didn't give up, he knew he could. At 5:07pm he sucked it up and went out there and sang his moving spiritual music. He only had to do forty-five minutes of songs, but the audience wanted more, so he went back on stage and sang every song he knew. His last song was called “Freedom” and everyone loved it so much that other bands had to draw amazing comparisons. (Hilstrom) The first day was hard but beautiful....... middle of paper...... we are with you.” After John took Janis Joplin's turn, by then everyone had woken up and most people were disappointed with her performance because she was too drunk to perform. A year later he died due to drug and alcohol abuse. The atmosphere changed completely when Sly and the Family Stone took the stage, many say his music made people start partying again. Then there was The Who who made a big impact on the festival when the guitarist smashed his guitar into the back of Hoftman's head. Works Cited Gerdes, Louise. Woodstock. Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2003 Hilstrom, Kevin. Defining Woodstock moments. Detroit: Omigraphic, 2013 Kallen, Stuart. The history of rock'n'roll. Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2012McLeese, Don. “Woodstock Festival”. Advanced World Book. World Book, 2013 “Woodstock”. Woodstock. 2012, November 7, 2013