BETHEL – The crowd was bigger, the skies brighter, the traffic exiting more brutal on the second day of the A Day in the Garden music festival.

Some 20,000 filed onto the field for the show, nearly double the crowd, by most estimates, that came to Friday's concert. The three-day concert closes today, and word on Max Yasgur's old alfalfa field is that even more, perhaps a capacity crowd of 30,000, will show up.

Some credit the music for the swelling crowd. Don Henley and Stevie Nicks headlined Friday, selling about 10,000 tickets. Yesterday's lineup included the Who legend Pete Townshend, Lou Reed and Joni Mitchell. Today, the Goo Goo Dolls, Dishwalla, Third Eye Blind and Perfect Thyroid take the stage.

Yesterday, state police patrolled the parameter on four-wheelers and Harley-Davidsons. Parents pushed strollers and kids played with Frisbees. Shoppers browsed the craft tent, plunking down American Express cards for beads and tie-dyed dresses.

This weekend marks the 29th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. It also marked the first organized event on this legendary field since 400,000 hippies crippled this county in 1969.

Sullivan County millionaire Alan Gerry is the weekend's concert host, site owner and by his own account, the county's hope of economic health.

This weekend is also a trial run of sorts, and if it succeeds, more concerts will be held here. There's hope that it will become a year-round tourism destination, a major local employer and bring droves of customers to nearby hotels, eateries and shops.

Friday and yesterday, almost everyone agrees, went well. The crowd was big but orderly. Drugs were invisible and beer, at $3 a draft, was consumed moderately.

A younger and larger crowd will fill the natural amphitheater today. The music pouring from the stage will be louder, more energetic. Organizers said that beer, available Friday and Saturday, will be pulled from the shelves today.

The Times Herald-Record Print Edition
Copyright August, 1998,
Orange County Publications, a division of Ottaway Newspapers
all rights reserved.