On This Day in 1969

During the summer months, hundreds of music gatherings take place all over the world. The US boasts Coachella and SXSW, the UK has Glastonbury, and Spain proudly presents Benicassim. If it weren’t for the legendary Woodstock Festival and Concert in the summer of 1969, none of these events would be as big as they are today. Truly a seismic cultural event, it featured a “who’s who in music” line-up, which included Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Sly and the Family Stone, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Creedence Clearwater Revival. The social and political context of the festival should not be ignored: the US Army was fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam, people were angry and dissatisfied with the government. As much as Woodstock 69 was about music, it was also about people getting together and standing up for what they believed in.