15 apocalyptic photos from the Woodstock disaster of 1999 that prove it was the original Fyre Festiv

August 27, 2024

Not unlike the notorious Fyre Festival that ended in disaster, Woodstock '99 was ill-equipped to handle the amount of people who attended and quickly got out of hand.

Here's what happened.

Woodstock 1999 had problems from the start.

Dave Duprey/AP

The facilities werent equipped to handle such large crowds.

Peter R. Barber/AP

Temperatures soared over 100 degrees. With little shade, long walks between stages, and vendors hiking up the price of bottled water to $4, some resorted to breaking pipes to gain access to water, creating mud pits on the grounds.

People stood in line for hours to access ATM machines and eventually broke into them to steal cash. The bathrooms were also overwhelmed, causing toilets to overflow.

By the last day of Woodstock, people were ready to do some damage.

Peter R. Barber/AP

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers began their set, vandals set fires across the grounds.

Dave Duprey/AP

The band then launched into a cover of "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix.

The candles were supposed to be used for a vigil by an anti-gun group.

Dave Duprey/AP

Instead, they were used to set enormous bonfires.

People looted the grounds and tossed debris into the fires.

Peter R. Barber/AP

They also ripped plywood off the fence surrounding the Air Force base to add fuel to the fires.

Trailers were set ablaze.

Will Waldron/AP

Concert-goers climbed speaker towers and tore them down.

But they didn't stop there.

They then tossed them into the fire.

Joe Traver/Reuters

The fires lasted into the early morning hours.

People looted supply trailers.

Steve Chernin/AP

ATM machines were also looted.

Ace Hardwares trailer became a free-for-all.

Steve Chernin/AP

Looters took bounty from Ace Hardware trailers parked in the campground.

Cars were overturned in the chaos.

Joe Traver/Reuters

Woodstock '99 attendees cheered on the bottom of an overturned Mercedes-Benz near the East stage.

Eventually, New York State troopers got involved.

Dave Duprey/AP

The grounds were left in smoldering ruins.

Dave Duprey/AP

By morning after those three days, the destruction had finally come to a close.

The San Francisco Chronicle called Woodstock 99 "the day the music died."

Dave Duprey/AP

Tents and booths were destroyed, trailers were burned, concert lights and a speaker tower were toppled, and mobs looted supply tents. While there were no fatalities, there were 1,200 injuries, 44 arrests, and four alleged sexual assaults .

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