WOODSTOCK '94 -- HIT & MYTH?

THE WEEKEND'S SURVIVORS MARCH FROM CATSKILLS SITE, TAKING MANY MEMORIES AND LEAVING A WHOLE LOT OF TRASH

DATE: Tuesday, August 16, 1994

SOURCE: From Beacon Journal wire services

On the morning after, the myth-making (and the cleanup) began. Bleary-eyed survivors of the 25th anniversary of Woodstock, plastic bags on* their feet and mud caked on their scalps, staggered away from a Catskills farm that appeared to have been hit by a hurricane and began weaving their tales about the most wonderful weekend of their lives. On hillsides strewn with garbage and abandoned tents, beside a creek bed littered with lawn chairs, underwear and rotting scraps of food, men and women packing up after the three-day festival, and even scavenging in the litter, pronounced their Woodstock the biggest, the wildest, the one with the most births.

That medical officials knew of no births did not affect their assessments. Nor did the fact that the official crowd estimates were about the same as those from the original Woodstock. As the "I survived Woodstock '94" T-shirts began turning up, nearly everyone who had stuck it out seemed dazzled by the experience and dizzy with mutual admiration. The promoters praised everyone, including each other; the state police praised the crowd and the New York State Thruway Authority; the town supervisor praised the state police. But still undecided yesterday is what, if any, concessions would be made for those concertgoers who bought tickets but were unable to get into the event.

Richard Kessel, executive director of the state Consumer Protection Board, said he will ask promoters to give refunds to people who could not get in. Promoter John Roberts said no refunds were planned -- because fans could keep their tickets intact as souvenirs, there's no way to tell who didn't get in -- but it's "something we'll look into." "We don't believe, logically, that anybody who wanted to get in couldn't get in," said fellow promoter John Scher. Tens of thousands of fans streamed in for free because, after the first downpour Saturday afternoon, organizers left much of the concert perimeter unguarded to give the security staff a rest. Scher said promoters expected a "modest" profit, but he would not give a figure. With an album due out this fall and, probably, a documentary film, the proceeds could continue for some time. The official concertgoer death toll remained at two, with two more killed on their way home to Chicago when the driver of their car fell asleep on the Thruway.

Officials said a total of 2,000 people had been treated at the festival hospital and 4,000 others in first-aid tents for conditions ranging from bad drug reactions to a spinal injury.

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