Only Two People Died at Woodstock in 1969

Nearly half-a-million people descended on Yasgur’s farm on Aug. 15, 1969, for the concert that later became known as Woodstock
Credit: history.com

On August 15, 1969, a concert billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music”, began on the 600-acre dairy farm of Max Yasgur, located in Bethel, New York, about 45 miles from the town of Woodstock. Featuring a lineup of artists never before seen in one venue, the festival attracted nearly 1 million people, about half of whom actually made it to Yasgur’s farm. 

“Woodstock” as it soon became known, was an epic event — a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza featuring music legends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills & Nash and dozens more. More importantly, perhaps, it was a celebration of the counterculture that emerged in the midst of the Vietnam War and the ongoing struggle for civil rights. The audience was overwhelmingly young and — at least for those three days — their mantra was most definitely “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll.” 

Terrible Conditions

From the outset, Woodstock was plagued by poor planning and bad luck. Event organizers Michael Lang, Artie Kornfeld, Joel Rosenman, and John P. Roberts were inexperienced promoters, though Lang had organized the two-day Miami Pop Festival the previous year. After shuffling venues several times, they managed to secure Yasgur’s farm just one month before the event — leaving them nowhere near enough time to prepare for the 200,000 people they estimated would attend. As the concert went on and the crowds swelled, the shortfalls became obvious: food, water, shelter and sanitation were all in woefully short supply. Then rainy weather made an already bad situation worse. Hungry concertgoers slept in the mud, huddled under filthy blankets when they weren’t dancing naked in the rain. 

Jimi Hendrix salutes the crowd at Woodstock 1969
Credit: chroniclesoftimes.com

Still, Woodstock may go down in history as one of the most peaceful “disasters” of all time. Despite an almost total absence of security (there were reportedly only about a dozen police officers present to control the crowds), there was little violence, and most injuries were minor cuts and scrapes (many of which were attributed to concertgoers’ bare feet). Volunteers manning the medical tent saw mostly food poisoning and “bad trips.” And, remarkably only two people died — one from a drug overdose (possibly insulin) and a teenager who fell asleep in front of a tractor and was crushed to death. 

A Gentler Time?

Looking at the event that was Woodstock, it seems that the ’60s were, perhaps, a kinder, gentler time. Certainly, in the aftermath of a week that gave us three mass shootings and at least 34 deaths, it’s tempting to see the past that way. But an honest look at the headlines reveals a great deal of unrest– the Mississippi civil rights murders, the campus protests, the Watts race riots, to name just a few.

No, I think it’s more likely that Woodstock was an anomaly — a brief, much-needed respite from a world fraught with violence and discord — not all that different from the America we live in today.

Still, knowing that half-a-million young people managed to co-exist peacefully under deplorable conditions for three days does give me hope that we can weather today’s stormy times.

As Max Yasgur said when he addressed the crowd on day three of the event:

“You’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids, and I call you kids because I have children who are older than you are, a half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and God bless you for it!”

Addendum: Woodstock’s promoter, Michael Lang, tried and failed to organize a Woodstock anniversary concert for this month. Dubbed Woodstock 50, the event was plagued by many of the same issues the original venture faced and was called off on July 31, 2019.