New York is a pretty big place, as you'll know if you've ever been there. Millions of people live there, everything's super-sized, people live on top of other people. It's busy. The surge of population to Bethel meant that for the duration of the festival, the small town became the third largest settlement by population in the entirety of New York State. That's a happening. That's a seismic event. That's the greatest festival in the world!
Bethel's Governor Nelson Rockefeller (another great festival name) could have said any of these things and it would have made for a great soundbite, but instead he referred to the festival site as a 'disaster area'. Thanks for being a drag, Nelson. We know you knew the crowd was huge already, we just wanted an excuse to show you another cool photo of it.