I was 17, and I went with my boyfriend. We drove up in his station wagon with a huge white peace sign painted on the hood. Although the distance was only 150 miles, it took us over 10 hours to get there. We were exhausted and very hungry and had no idea where we were going. We parked our car and took our camping equipment and started following the crowds. We walked for miles. The mountain was covered with more people than I had ever seen in my life. As we walked up the mountain the air reeked of pot, and we were amazed at the sight of so many insane things, from people being tossed in the air, people taking baths totally naked and many people on bad drug trips. There were no bathrooms, no food, no water and no lodging. You were on your own -- except for the other half a million people!

I was a girl from Long Island getting to experience her first taste of freedom. After a day of starvation, no water, going to the bathroom in the woods, being eaten by mosquitos and literally falling down a mountain of manure and being covered head to toe, we decided to go home.

When I got home and rang my doorbell, my mother took one look at me, and said, ``Wait here.'' She came back with a big green garbage bag, told me to strip, and put the clothes in the bag. I complied, never to see those clothes again.

CINDY BUNIN-NURIK, Plantation

I was 14 years old and staying with my grandparents in a bungalow colony in a little town called Hurleyville which was down the road from the concert. My cousin and I bicycled through a mass of cars and people, many with children on their shoulders. I heard the music and was told the gates were open down the road a bit, as it was now a free concert. We never made it through the gates, but the sights and sounds were something I've never forgotten.

I became a rather avid record collector, ended up doing a close-to-15-year rock radio program, which enabled me to interview and meet a few of the Woodstock performers, and ended up taking over a record shop. We still sell Woodstock I and II on LP!

EVAN CHERN, The Redland

I was living in New York with some friends, and we heard about Woodstock, so I rushed to buy tickets, and at the last minute everyone changed their minds, and I ended going by myself. Took the bus out of the Port Authority and got stuck three quarters of the way, since the highways were totally clogged.

To see/hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and so many other top bands was mind-blowing and delicious! We bathed in the lake; we shared food, weed, tents and sleeping bags. Nobody fought or argued.

Woodstock was truly a piece of Nirvana, and, in my naivete, I thought we would change the world, and this planet we all love would be just a bigger Woodstock, where everyone would get along and love one another.

Boy was I wrong!

MONICA HARVEY, Miami Beach

I was 18 and working as a waiter/busboy at one of the Catskill hotels near the concert. We weren't planning on going since the tickets were quite expensive. However, when everone could go for free, we decided to go. Our only problem was that we served dinner to the guests and didn't finished until 9 p.m. A bunch of us piled into a couple of cars and managed to park nearby and walk. The most amazing sight was walking up the hill and looking down on the stage and the mass of people.

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