Woodstock turns 50: Vintage photos from the era-defining music festival

Jimi Hendrix rocking out on stage wearing a jacket dripping with fringing, Janis Joplin eyeing up her drink through orange-tinted sunglasses, a festival-goer napping on the roof of her car during a traffic jam—these were just some of the memorable moments from Woodstock in 1969. A bastion of counterculture, the event—billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music”—defined the next decade in music and changed festival fashion forever.

It kicked off on 15 August on a 600-acre dairy farm close to the town of Woodstock, New York. The 32-strong line-up featured The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joan Baez and The Grateful Dead. Advance tickets cost just $18 (approx Rs 1,278), though around half of the 400,000 attendees entered without purchasing one by walking through gaps in the fence. They climbed the scaffolding, wandered through the fields barefoot and settled in for four days of show-stopping performances. The unofficial dress code included acid-wash denim, suede, crochet, macramé and acres of tie-dye, while the most radical attendees simply went naked.

On its 50th anniversary, Vogue revisits Woodstock’s heyday through vintage photos that capture the magic of the original festival.

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