Powder Ridge was anticipated to be a significant historical music event, similar to Woodstock. In the year following Woodstock, however, the reputation of music festivals associated with the hippie movement had become increasingly negative following the Altamont festival and went into “a long spiral of decline”. Thirty of the forty-eight major festivals planned for 1970 were cancelled, usually due to swiftly materializing local opposition. Powder Ridge, however, made national news because of the arrival of tens of thousands of ticketholders despite the event's cancellation. "The New York Times" followed its progress in about thirty articles before, during, and after the event.