Where was Woodstock held? 5 myths about the famous festival

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 1969 file photo, hundreds of rock music fans jam a highway leading from Bethel, N.Y., as they try to leave the Woodstock Music and Art Festival. More than 400,000 people attended Woodstock which was staged 80 miles northwest of New York City on a bucolic hillside owned by dairy farmer Max Yasgur. It was great spot for peaceful vibes, but miserable for handling the hordes coming in by car. Fifty years later, memories of the rainy weekend Aug. 15-18, 1969 remain sharp among people who were in the crowd and on the stage. (AP Photo, File) FILE - In this Aug. 16, 1969 file photo, hundreds of rock music fans jam a highway leading from Bethel, N.Y., as they try to leave the Woodstock Music and Art Festival. More than 400,000 people attended Woodstock which was staged 80 miles northwest of New York City on a bucolic hillside owned by dairy farmer Max Yasgur. It was great spot for peaceful vibes, but miserable for handling the hordes coming in by car. Fifty years later, memories of the rainy weekend Aug. 15-18, 1969 remain sharp among people who were in the crowd and on the stage. (AP Photo, File)

By Associated Press August 17, 2019 3 min read

Woodstock is surrounded by myths, legends and misperceptions. Here’s the real story about five of them.

1. WOODSTOCK WAS NOT HELD AT WOODSTOCK

It made sense that co-organizer Michael Lang wanted to have the concert in Woodstock. The Catskill Mountains town already was known for being an artists’ colony and Bob Dylan’s rural hideaway. But key people in the town wanted no part of the concert. The festival was going to be held a bit south of Woodstock at an old industrial site in Wallkill, New York. But those plans fell through about a month before the show, sending Lang scrambling to find a new site. He was driving through farm country in Bethel, New York, when he spied a gently sloping alfalfa field. He struck a deal with the farmer, Max Yasgur.

2. THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY STAYED OPEN

“The New York State Thruway is closed, man,” Arlo Guthrie famously announced from the festival stage. Not exactly. Police closed at least one thruway exit east of the festival to stem the source of a blockbuster traffic jam around the site. How bad were the roads? The New York Daily News reported on Aug. 16, 1969, that cars were being delayed by as much as eight hours between New York City and the concert site – a distance of less than 100 miles.