Max Yasgur's Farm

Nothing will make you feel older than having a twenty-something co-worker ask you if you were at Woodstock. My reply, "No, I was too young," was given a look of skepticism.

 

Forty-three years ago this week, hundreds of thousands of young people belonging to the hippie generation descended upon Yasgur's farm. And, although I was too young to go to the festival, I remember it like it was yesterday. Watching the movie that was released the following year was as thrilling for me as the live performance. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - all the biggest names in rock-n-roll history.

The movie altered my already liberal outlook on life and influenced my decision to become a budding flower child. I developed a school girl crush on Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, and Alvin Lee, their posters were plastered on the walls in my bedroom.

Young Hippies, Tracy and Brother Steve 1971
Arlo Guther strumming guitar behind us

 The festival was a pivotal moment in the turbulent sixties, not only for the music, but because of the incredible demonstration of sharing and caring that was prevalent throughout the three-day peace and love fest. We may have Lollapalooza today, but we will never have another Woodstock.