Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm landing at JFK airport to ""handle security"" at Woodstock. Image by Lisa Law

56 years ago today, just as Santana was finishing their set and before Canned Heat took the stage, it began to rain at Woodstock.

This should have been a disaster. Organizers had planned for a crowd of up to 100,000 and most guesstimates put the final attendance tally conservatively at 400,000. Sanitation, food, water and medical supplies were woefully inadequate, and the New York State Throughway had been closed due to gridlock. And many festival goers were tripping, some on notoriously bad acid. The last thing anyone had anticipated was torrential rains.

But the gathering had been advertised as ""Three Days of Peace and Music"" and in the end it was. The event was notable for its lack of formal security. The organizers had hired the Hog Farm, a commune of traveling performers to help maintain order and provide assistance. When asked of their role one of their leaders, Wavy Gravy, replied ""We're mostly just gonna try to be groovy and spread that grooviness through everybody."" Gravy named himself the ""Please Chief"" of the Hog Farm's ""Please Force"". At one point the governor wanted to declare a disaster and bring in the National Guard to ""restore order"", but the Hog Farm's non-confrontational, we're-in-this-together approach prevailed.

Video: Festival Security | Woodstock | American Experience | PBS

Article: The Kindly Career of Wavy Gravy