Woodstock was a music festival, billed as An Aquarian Exposition, held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre (2.4 km²; 240 ha) dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel (Sullivan County) is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the village of Woodstock, New York, in adjoining Ulster County.

The festival exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s – early 1970s and the "hippie era". Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend in front of nearly half a million concertgoers. Although attempts have been made over the years to emulate the festival, the original event has proven to be unique and legendary. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

The event was captured in a successful 1970 documentary movie, Woodstock; an accompanying soundtrack album; and Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock", which commemorated the event and became a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The film

The documentary film, Woodstock, was directed by Michael Wadleigh and edited by Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese, was released in 1970. Warner Brothers agreed to pay $100,000 for the film. So Wadleigh proceeded to round up a crew of about 100 from the New York scene. With no money to pay the crew he agreed a double or nothing scheme in which double pay was received if it went well whereas they received nothing if it bombed. The plot was simple, like a modern day Canterbury Tale, he strived to make the film as much about the hippies as the music, listening to their feelings about the times, the Vietnam War for example, as well as the views of the townspeople. To him this is what would make the film, not just the music.

Artie Kornfeld, one of the promoters of the festival came to Fred Weintraub, an executive at Warner Bros., and asked for money to film the festival. Artie had been turned down everywhere, but Fred Weintraub became his hero and against the wishes of other Warner executives, Weintraub put his job on the line and gave the money. Warner Brothers was about to go out of business and Woodstock saved the company. This is all documented in the book, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls".

It received the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. The film has been deemed culturally significant by the United States Library of Congress. In 1994, Woodstock: The Director's Cut was released, expanded to include Janis Joplin as well as additional performances by Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and Canned Heat not seen in the original version of the film.

The DVD

New DVD and Blu-ray versions of Woodstock: The Director's Cut are scheduled for release by Warner Home Video on July 28, 2009. The "Ultimate Collector’s Edition" reportedly includes an hour of performances not seen in the film, or not seen in full. Director Michael Wadleigh is overseeing the release, Warner said. Robert Klein's documentary "The '60s and the Woodstock Generation" will be among the extra features. "Woodstock" is being restored and remastered for the release. The previous DVD dates back to 1997, with reviewers on Amazon complaining of its VHS-like quality.