What music festival took place in Bethel, New York in 1969?

The music festival that took place in Bethel, New York, in 1969 was Woodstock.

Officially called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, the festival ran from August 15 to 18, 1969, on dairy farmer Max Yasgur’s farm. Although it was named after the nearby town of Woodstock, the event was held about 60 miles away in Bethel after organizers lost permission to use earlier proposed sites.

The festival was promoted as “Three Days of Peace & Music” and featured 32 acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Joan Baez, and Santana. Estimates place attendance at roughly 460,000 to 500,000 people, far exceeding expectations and overwhelming local roads, food supplies, and sanitation facilities.

Woodstock is often confused with the Altamont Free Concert, another major 1969 music event. Altamont took place in California in December and became associated with violence; Woodstock became a defining symbol of the era’s counterculture and antiwar movement.