Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll & peace: Remembering Woodstock

Tampa, Florida - This weekend marks the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock, an event that helped define a generation. The 3-day music festival, held on a rural Bethel, New York farm attracted an estimated half million people. Over the years, thousands more have claimed they were there too.

But Trent Perrotto of Brandon, Paula Rosen of Seminole, Richard Estren of St. Petersburg, Carl Byrd of Riverview and Bethe Caouette of Palm Harbor swear they really attended Woodstock.

10 Connects takes a trip down memory lane with the five Bay area residents as they recall an event some describe as "life-changing."

"It really helped me to understand that humanity could get along with each other," Perrotto said.

John Hope Franklin Professor of History Raymond Arsenault teaches at University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He says peace ultimately became Woodstock's lasting message, adding the festival also helped to launch the counter culture of the 1970's.

"I think a lot of people wanted to feel alive again. I think there was kind of the smell of death in '68 with Robert Kennedy's assassination and Martin Luther King's assassination and all the death in Vietnam and I think there was a real desire for people to pinch themselves and experience life and to feel that there was hope for the future," Arsenault said.

More than 30 musical acts performed at Woodstock including The Who, Richie Havens, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix.

While Woodstock was largely considered a peaceful event, Arsenault notes there were 2 deaths, including one overdose.

Below is a Woodstock photo gallery. Special thanks to photographers Mark Goff and Richie Suraci for their contributions. Thanks also to the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts featuring the work of Burk Uzzle. You can see more of his photos in an upcoming exhibit titled, "Burk Uzzle's Woodstock and other Americana" which opens September 17^th at the FMOPA in downtown Tampa.

Click here for our Woodstock photo gallery