The Plattsburgh Air Force Base, home to B-52 bombers and F-111 fighter jets just a year ago, was transformed into a sea of tie-dyed and preppie khaki shorts, bikinis and bare feet, as 70,000 people converged on this small Adirondack town for one of the largest concerts on the East Coast this year.
The big draw at the two-day music-and-arts festival, which concluded Saturday, was Phish, the hit rock band that happens to be based in Burlington, Vt., just across the river.
So-called Phish Heads, for whom devoted Grateful Dead fans serve as a prototype, came from as far away as Washington State, California and Texas. Since Jerry Garcia's death last August, Phish has lured Dead Heads with its music -- combining elements of jazz, rock and blues -- as well as the nomadic life style of its fans.
But the ambiance in Plattsburgh was only semi-retro. Fans ranged from neo-hippies to computer nerds with a fresh-scrubbed look.
''It's amazing, I've been to about 50 Phish shows and this is the most incredible of all,'' said Patrick Mufin, 21, who had traveled from Charleston, S.C.
The festival, incidentally, coincided with the 27th anniversary of Woodstock. But unlike that and many other large festivals, this one seemed a logistical success, with 950 portable toilets, dozens of food vendors, ''mist tents'' to cool down participants and plenty of sunny weather. Painters, glass blowers and sculptors created their works on site.
In fact, the decommissioned air force base, with its two-mile runway and barbed-wire-enclosed grounds, was dubbed the largest city in Clinton County for the day. Plattsburgh has a population of 20,000.
''Festival organizers built a city here,'' said Marni Ratzel, 27, a city planner herself from Brooklyn who made the 300-mile trek because she loves the band. ''It has great transportation, great facilities, great services.'' Ms. Ratzel bought 79 pickles from a Polish deli in Brooklyn for $20 and traded them for $79 worth of ''money, goods and smiles.''
Though the scene might have been reminiscent of a smaller version of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, the band's manager said the two should not be confused.
''There are certain things that obviously echo the 60's,'' said John Paluska, the manager. ''But there are distinct difference. There's not a galvanizing political element to this audience. I think it's more about the music.''
