All-in-all, thirty-two artists performed at the festival ranging from Joe Cocker to The Who to the Grateful Dead. Spread these four days which altered the history of rock n’ roll and live music forever was a hit parade of legendary performances that would go down in the history books as some of the most celebrated concerts of all time. Related: Woodstock 50 Organizers Suing Financial Partners Dentsu Group (Again), Claiming “Destruction Of The Festival” Even in the craziest of circumstances, the frantically unorganized Woodstock somehow became a utopian city where music was played, freedom thrived, and people lived together in communal peace and harmony… and mud.

Commonly renowned as the most iconic music festival of all time, Woodstock was the counterculture’s response to the world in which they had grown, and was a pivotal moment for a nation engulfed in Vietnam War protests and social unrest following the murder of Dr. Woodstock Music & Arts Fair was a once-in-a-lifetime snapshot of American history in the 20th century and the peaceful culmination of a tumultuous decade that saw a drastic shift in youth culture that changed the country forever. Originally slated from August 15th-August 17th for an estimated 200,000 concertgoers, the now-historic music and cultural event stretched to roughly noon on August 18th and, at its peak, swelled to an astonishing 400,000 attendees. Fifty-three years ago today, hundreds of thousands of beautiful people descended upon Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in the town of Bethel, NY for the now-legendary Woodstock Music & Arts Fair.

Suite judy blue eyes woodstock full