Who opened the Woodstock festival?

Richie Havens opened the Woodstock festival in 1969. He performed first on the festival’s opening afternoon, accompanied by guitarist Paul “Deano” Williams and percussionist Daniel Ben Zebulon.

Havens was not originally expected to carry the entire opening slot. Traffic delays prevented several scheduled performers from reaching the stage, so he kept playing while organizers waited. He extended his set with additional songs and improvised the performance that became his signature Woodstock moment: “Freedom,” built around the spiritual “Motherless Child.”

The festival was held from August 15 to 18, 1969, at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York—not in the nearby town of Woodstock. Havens’s opening appearance helped establish the festival’s folk-oriented beginning before the bill moved through rock, blues, soul, and psychedelic music.

A common mix-up is confusing the opening act with the festival’s invocation. Swami Satchidananda spoke after Havens, while Jimi Hendrix was the final performer.