What Day Was the start of the Woodstock festival?

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The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, drawing an eventual crowd estimated at around 400,000 people for three days of music that became a defining symbol of the 1960s counterculture.

The event was overwhelmed by attendance far beyond what organizers had planned for, leading to it becoming a free festival after fencing and ticket infrastructure was overrun.

Despite widespread predictions of disaster given the crowd size, rain, and limited facilities, the festival is remembered for its largely peaceful atmosphere, reinforcing its era-defining reputation.

The festival's original venue fell through weeks before the event, forcing organizers to relocate to Max Yasgur's dairy farm at the last minute, a change that nonetheless became inseparable from the festival's identity.