Due to the last minute arrangements to secure the site, the stages, various support buildings, and speaker towers were still under construction and wouldn’t actually be completed until shortly before show time.  I don’t recall any chain link fences surrounding the site when we got there and people moved freely in and out.  How in the world would they collect tickets, we wondered?  As early as we were, we were by no means the first to arrive and people kept steadily rolling in.  Well before the promoters were ready for business they had a village of people occupying the grounds and it would have been a logistical nightmare and potential riot to try and clear everyone out to collect their tickets.  In a recent interview, promoter Michael Lang said “We had to choose whether to finish working on the stage or build the fences…”  Fortunately, they focused on the stage.  An interesting addendum to this anecdote: somebody is marketing jewelry supposedly made from authentic chain link fencing from the Woodstock Festival, so I think that some fences probably were erected but were too little, too late and were ultimately abandoned as promoters officially declared the concert to be free. 

We quickly staked out a spot to camp by laying out our tarps and sleeping bags in the meadow that came to be known as “Movement City,” separated by a short walk along paths through the woods to the main hillside performance area.  We then headed into the tiny town of White Lake to stock up on provisions.  Anticipating that the small local market/general store would soon be overrun and wiped out, we purchased a bunch of goodies like Dinty Moore’s canned beef stew, peanut butter, etc. (our gastronomical IQ was not too high at the time).  As it turned out there was lots of free or shared food available and we wound up giving away much of what we bought. 

Shortly after we arrived, Ken Kesey’s psychedelic school bus rolled into Movement City and the Hog Farm collective descended to assume their multi-faceted roles for the Festival: running the non-violent internal security force (the “Please Force”), first-aid station, information booth, and macrobiotic free food kitchen.  Considering the number of people they were serving the food was surprisingly tasty - lots of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit mixed up into a kind of Swiss muesli for breakfast and brown rice and veggies for dinner.  

Hog Farm leader/activist/comic Hugh Romney, better known by the nickname he was anointed by B.B. King shortly thereafter (Wavy Gravy), took on a major role as moderator and entertainer between acts.  While waiting for the next band to set up you heard announcements like,

So the festivities and partying began long before the music started and no one seemed to mind that the stage wasn’t ready until late Friday afternoon.  Finally, around 5 P.M., Richie Havens was announced and started things off.  He  immediately electrified the huge crowd with a powerful and extended set that began with High Flyin’ Bird and ended with Motherless Child – his chorus of “Free-dom, Free-dom” booming from the oversized sound system and resonating with the hundreds of thousands of us (and still growing), setting the tone and philosophy for The Weekend of Peace and Love.  The energy was palpable.  I learned later that the promoters wanted to keep the music flowing continuously to help keep the peace so they asked performers to extend their sets until the next performers arrived.  Havens stretched his set to three hours for example.

The rains came and went.  We were drenched, we were muddy.  The music continued through the wee hours and once the first night’s festivities finally concluded, our attempts to get some sleep were rudely interrupted by stoned out revelers who literally stepped on us as they wandered about in the dark.  As the sun returned early Saturday morning, we  awoke to Grace Slick’s electrifying vocals and the driving beat of the Jefferson Airplane’s overtly political rallying cry, Volunteers (of America) and a memorable set that included Somebody to Love and concluded with the counter culture anthem, White Rabbit.  Following Friday’s mostly folk set, the Airplane set the tone for the decidedly rock-oriented program for the remainder of the Festival.