Can it really be 43 years since the original Woodstock Festival? The anniversary falls this very week, August 15 through 18. And you can bet that the Museum at Bethel Woods – built on the farmland site sanctified by half a million people celebrating “Peace, Love and Music” all those years ago – isn’t going to miss the chance to mark the occasion.
Although any day that the Museum is open presents an opportunity to immerse yourself in the ambience of that countercultural watershed day in 1969, some special events and exhibits will be in operation this Wednesday through Saturday. Odd as it may seem, screenings of Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 documentary Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music are not a regular fixture at the Museum. But this week, the movie will run continuously during Museum hours in the Event Gallery, with full concert sound. You can sit through the whole thing – more than once if you like – or pop in and out for your favorite acts.
There’s also a 1960s Costume Contest going on. If you’re a Baby Boomer who once identified with the hippie counterculture, I’ll bet that you’ve still got an artifact or two of 1969-vintage haberdashery tucked away somewhere. Visitors in costume can register to win prizes, among them a pair of tickets to hear a live performance by Judy Collins in the Event Gallery on Saturday, December 15. While Ms. Blue Eyes didn’t appear in person at the Woodstock Festival, Stephen Stills did sing that song about her there. And although at age 73 her range may not be quite so spectacular as it was during her Woodstock-era youth, Collins still sings like an angel, so those tickets are a prize worth dressing up for.
On hand at the Museum this week will be authors and artists selling and signing their books and artwork. And while you’re there, you can still catch “Across the Great Divide: Photographs by Roberta Price,” the special exhibit chronicling Price’s seven years in the 1970s as a resident of Libre, a commune in the Huerfano Valley in southern Colorado.
Access to all anniversary activities is included with the regular price of Museum admission: $17 for adults, $15 for seniors, $13 for youth ages 8 to 17, $8 for children ages 3 to 7 and free for kids under age 3. Museum hours through Labor Day are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more info about 43rd Anniversary activities, visit www.bethelwoodscenter.org/bwevents/eventdetail.aspx?id=284. To purchase tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com/venue/1167?brand=museumbethelwoods&camefrom=CFC_BETH .
The 1970 film Woodstock will screen continuously from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Event Gallery of the Museum at Bethel Woods from Wednesday through Saturday, August 15 to 18 to mark the 43rd anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. There will also be a 1960s Costume Contest with prizes including tickets to a December 15 concert by Judy Collins. Admission costs $17 for adults, $15 for seniors, $13 for age 8 to 17, $8 for age 3 to 7 and free under age 3; visit www.ticketmaster.com/venue/1167?brand=museumbethelwoods&camefrom=CFC_BETH for tickets.
Join the family! 
