Traffic snarled the roads to Bethel, New York — the performers had to be ferried in by National Guard helicopters. Concession stands planning for attendance of 20,000 – 40,000  ran out of food by the time the 50,000 mark, and the tens of thousands who came afterward depleted the local grocery stores as well. Music promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang could not have imagined this kind of turnout for their fundraiser concert for a recording studio in the nearby Woodstock, New York — but then neither could they have imagined getting the likes of Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix to appear for their outdoor festival.

On this day, August 15, in 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival opened, on site of a farm owned by a local dairyman (the city of Woodstock itself and the nearby Wallkill rejected the idea). At a time when the country was deeply divided politically, some 400,000 teens and twentysomethings from around the country came together for “Three Days of Peace and Music.”

Rain began to fall late in the evening on the 15th, and would continue to fall steadily the days following, turning the entire field into a giant puddle of mud. Some took it in stride, while others considered the result a debacle, but it was an unforgettable event either way. Moreso for the hardy 35,000 who stuck around to the end and witnessed Jimi Hendrix improvise a solo guitar performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” in one of the greatest virtuoso performances ever.