Woodstock Museum Summons Festival Attendees
Woodstock Museum Summons Festival Attendees
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the site of the original Woodstock festival, is appealing to attendees to share their memories of that immortal weekend in August 1969. The curators from the Museum at Bethel Woods – also known as the Woodstock Museum – are taking their Oral Histories Project on the road and inviting all concert-goers to officially document their experiences from the original event for posterity.
Widely recognized as the most legendary and impactful music festival of all time, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair famously drew approximately 450,000 fans and thirty-two luminous musical acts to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York on August 15 – 18th, 1969, resulting in innumerable timeless and amaranthine experiences both onstage and offstage.
Since the Woodstock Oral Histories Project started in 2020, it has collected over 1,800 stories from concert attendees. According to senior curator Neal V. Hitch, the museum hopes to obtain 4,500 more stories, which would still only account for around 1% of the total concert-goers.
Burk Uzzle
“Realizing the average age of Woodstock attendees is 75 years old, now is the time to find the lost stories of the festival and save their place in history,” said Hitch. “In order for the impact of Woodstock to be felt 100 years from now, collecting oral histories of this iconic festival is critical.” He adds, “It is our goal to find as many attendees as possible and document their firsthand experiences, which will also inspire the next generation of young artists, musicians, and music lovers.”
The Museum of Bethel Woods begins its cross-country tour this week in Columbus, Ohio on April 4-8th, partnering with the Columbus Community Festival. The tour continues to San Diego on April 25-26th, Los Angeles on April 27-30th, San Francisco on May 8-12th, and New York City in August. At each pop-up event, attendees of the original Woodstock festival are invited to document their experiences. To schedule an appointment, email the curators at oralhistory@bethelwoodscenter.org.
More information is available at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts website: https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/blog/woodstock-stories-memory-and-history
The Woodstock Oral History Project of the Museum of Bethel Woods, New York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7pxfo9rOrw
Bethel Woods Center
Doug Lenier
James Sarles
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