People Share Their Wild Real Stories From Woodstock
"3 Days of Peace & Music" — what could go wrong? In the beginning, Woodstock sounded like a good idea. Better than good — revolutionary! Two years after the Summer of Love, hippies were ready to forget the real world and groove to the era's best music. Of course, what ended up happening over those three infamous days in 1969 was less about peace and music and more about chaos, confusion, and notoriously bad trips. Luckily for us, some people distinctly remember both the good and bad parts of Woodstock... and are finally sharing their psychedelic stories.
Note: Some stories have been lightly edited for clarity.
"He had to pee in a coffee can"
"My dad went, totally sober the entire time… [He] remembers watching Creedence and The Who in the middle of the night and watching Janis Joplin swaying in the dark. Never saw Hendrix as he left early Sunday. He always said it was raining, muddy, and miserable.
"[He] had to pee in a coffee can because it was so crowded. I just went to the site with him a few weeks ago and we stood on the hill exactly where he remembered being." — row_guy, Reddit
"I remember the mud"
"I remember a little bit of Cocker, and I definitely remember Hendrix's 'Star Spangled Banner.' I remember the traffic in, and the traffic out (while trying to keep my Volvo's engine from melting because of a massive oil leak).
"I remember the mud and some of the personal interactions (mostly good). Unfortunately, most of what I 'know' is from watching the movie because... drugs. Sigh." — hedronist, Reddit
"Several bushel baskets worth of daisies"
"My name's Bob, and I went to Woodstock with a friend named Dave. We were both in college in Brooklyn at the time. We took public transportation up to the George Washington Bridge and hitch-hiked from there. Just the journey to Woodstock was a trip. But that's for another time. One thing I remember was that we had a light shower on Saturday afternoon and everyone started chanting, 'No Rain, No Rain...' for a while.
"Soon the sky cleared and a helicopter flew over and started dropping what looked like several bushel baskets worth of daisies on the crowd. I might still have the book around somewhere with the daisy I pressed into it." — bobanddave, Reddit
"I still have my tickets"
"We shared food, drink, stories, and Maryjane with the people around us and had a great time. We went home on Sunday afternoon and ended up getting a ride all the way back to the Jersey side of the GW Bridge...
"[We were] riding in one of the seats from the Ferris wheel which had been dismantled and was leaving Woodstock. I still have my tickets: Saturday #H03895 and Sunday #H02397. $7.00 each day!" — bobanddave, Reddit