What was the name of the farmer who leased his land for Woodstock?

Max Yasgur was the farmer who leased his land for Woodstock. His dairy farm in Bethel, New York, became the setting for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969.

The organizers needed a new venue after local opposition stopped their planned site in Wallkill, New York. Yasgur’s property offered a natural bowl-shaped landscape that could hold a huge crowd, with the stage positioned near the bottom of the slope. He agreed to lease part of his farm despite resistance from some nearby residents, who feared traffic, noise, and disruption.

Yasgur later became one of the festival’s defining figures. Onstage, he addressed the crowd and praised the young attendees for maintaining a spirit of peace under difficult conditions. The event drew far more people than organizers had anticipated, turning his farm into one of the most famous concert sites in music history.

Woodstock was named after the nearby artistic community of Woodstock, but the festival itself was held in Bethel. Yasgur continued working as a dairy farmer afterward and died in 1973.