WOODSTOCK location named historic site

The location of the 1969 Woodstock festival is now an official historic site. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that Bethel Woods Center for the Arts – a cultural nonprofit in Bethel, New York – is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cuomo called the festival a “pivotal moment in both New York and American history.”

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair was described by the promoters as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music”. It took place August 15-17, 1969 at the 600-acre dairy farm. The iconic festival was famously documented in Michael Wadleigh's 1970 documentary, “Woodstock”.

The landmark event drew nearly half-million attendees with its genre-blurring musical line-up, which included Santana, Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Who, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Most famously, Jimi Hendrix's set with short-lived band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows included his psychedelic electric guitar rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

Source: Rolling Stone