Woodstock’s most famous VW van, the Light Bus, is back on the road

The “Light” bus, of Woodstock fame, has been recreated by Dr. Bob Hieronimus, the original artist who painted a 1963 Volkswagen Microbus in ’68. The original bus was painted in its now famous wraparound artwork for Bob Grimm, a member of the band Light, which travelled from Baltimore to Woodstock for the weekend-long music festival in Bethel, New York, beginning August 15, 1969.

The whereabouts of the original van are still unknown, as a search came up without any leads. Undeterred, after six weeks of painting by Hieronimus and a team of five additional artists, the bus was recreated using a period-correct 1963 VW. The recreation was recently unveiled in Long Beach, California, at a meeting of the Orange Country Transporter Organization.

A 50th anniversary event is scheduled for the same weekend in August as the original Woodstock, and the Light bus has begun a cross-country trip to celebrate it, eventually making its way back to where the original van became an icon of a generation.