From makeshift shelters to food stalls, festival attendees got creative in the absence of adequate facilities. The attendees endured the discomforts to relish in a lifestyle that was an expression of their independence.
While newspapers across the US continued to focus on the concert as a disaster area, network television news programs were quick to pick up on Woodstock’s message.
A New Nation
Despite the rain and the traffic jams, the mud, hunger and thirst, and beyond the confusion, a new nation had emerged into the glare provided by the moving photos we see.
At the festival, thousands were able to do things that would ordinarily be considered rebellious regarding whatever current sociological theory one might want to embrace. Swimming, canoeing, or running around scantily clad, believe it or not, stay up all night.
Coming of Age
Attendees even climbed up the sound tower to see the stage. The festival's overall panorama wove together elements drawn from their experiences and the artistry of the performances.
An article featured in The Rolling Stone magazine also explored the cultural implications of Woodstock on a personal level, it discussed how Woodstock represented a coming of age of personal freedom.
Coming Together
As hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life invaded a rural resort area that was unprepared to accommodate them all. Here we see young people eating outside the food tent at Woodstock.
Somehow, by nature of old-fashioned kindness and caring, people came together, in harmony and with good intentions, and all of them learned from the experience.
Defining Its Own Culture
Woodstock proved to be a milestone in coverage of the music scene and the broader media investigation of social and economic issues that affect younger citizens. After the Woodstock weekend, rock music and other matters concerning the American experience were no longer oddities.
In the aftermath of the festival, it was clear that the future had arrived when hundreds of thousands of people were part of a place that defined its own culture for three days.