Nixon, Woodstock, the moon landing, the final Beatles’ album, and the amazing Mets are some of the more notable highlights of 1969. I graduated from Elkhart High School and attended Albion College. Going to Viet Nam was on my mind as 250,000 protestors marched on Washington. However, 100,000 more of my generation went to Woodstock by conservative estimates. Peace, love, and drugs were influencers on my life, but I will always regret not going. I don’t even remember being aware that it was happening at the time, nor do I know any of my friends that went. I’ve been to larger events in my lifetime, like the Indy 500, New Orleans Jazz Festival, and Mardi Gras, but Woodstock remains at the top of my bucket list of missed opportunities. 

In my opinion, 100,000 people in one place is a significant event. Funerals, Pilgrimages, Festivals, Marches, and Rallies top the list of events involving millions of attendees – most of these take place over many days. The venues that can accommodate these massive crowds are primarily auto racing venues around the world. For example, the Daytona 500 attracts over 160,000 spectators, making it my fourth largest event in personal attendance. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was not far behind on my list, followed by Michigan International Speedway, Mid-Ohio, Elkhart Lake, Circuit of the Americas, Brickyard 500, Formula One Indy, the College World Series in Omaha, and Daryl Royal Stadium in Austin, Texas. At the 50,000+ level were events at the Hoosier Dome, Lucas Oil Stadium, St. Louis Arena, Coho Hall, Indy Jazz Fest, Reliant Stadium, Soldier Field, Comiskey/Cellular One/Guaranteed Rate Park, Anaheim Stadium, Minute Maid Park, Providence Park, PGA at Crooked Stick, Moda Center, Minneapolis Metrodome, Milwaukee Coliseum, Wrigley Field, Amway Arena, Tiger Stadium, America West Arena, Silverdome, Tropicana, Riverfront Stadium, Conseco, Superdome, Liberty Bowl, Independence Bowl, Oracle Stadium, Oakland Coliseum, PNC Park, Busch Stadium. Portland International Speedway, Arlington Park, Fenway Park, Marlins Park, Maui Classic, Irish Stadium, Yankee Stadium, T-Mobile Park, US Olympic Trials in Eugene, RFK Stadium. Camden Yard, Century Link Field, AT&T Arena, Citi Field, and the Great American Ballpark, to name a few. 

The St. Pete Grand Prix that we just went to last week was estimated at 150,000 attendees. However, I find these large crowds to be intimidating in retirement and preferably avoided. Other missed bucket list opportunities like the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl will continue to be hard to avoid, especially if one of my teams makes the cut or I get a free ticket.