No one had planned for half a million people.

The highways in the area literally became parking lots as people abandoned their cars in the middle of the street and just walked the final distance to the Woodstock Festival.

Traffic was so bad that the organizers had to hire helicopters to shuttle the performers from their hotels to the stage.

The Music Starts

Despite all the organizers’ troubles, the Woodstock Festival got started nearly on time.

On Friday evening, August 15, Richie Havens got up on stage and officially started the Festival. Sweetwater, Joan Baez, and other folk artists also played Friday night.

The music started up again shortly after noon on Saturday with Quill and continued non-stop until Sunday morning around 9 am.

The day of psychedelic bands continued with such musicians as Santana, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and The Who, to name just a few.

It was obvious to everyone that on Sunday, the Woodstock Festival was winding down.

Most of the crowd left throughout the day, leaving about 150,000 people on Sunday night.

When Jimi Hendrix, the last musician to play at Woodstock, finished his set early on Monday morning, the crowd was down to only 25,000.

Despite the 30-minute lines for water and at least hour-long wait to use a toilet, the Woodstock Festival was a huge success.

There were a lot of drugs, a lot of sex and nudity, and a lot of mud.