The 50th anniversary woes of Woodstock appear to be never-ending, with the festival now losing its venue with just two months to go.
Over the last few months, the 50th anniversary edition of Woodstock has run into a few issues, to say the least.
After its initial lineup was unveiled, fears of a cancellation soon began to swirl after the on-sale date for tickets was pushed back without explanation.
Soon, the cancellation was ‘confirmed’, with Dentsu Aegis Network – the festival’s core investor – revealing to Billboard that they “don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees.”
Woodstock 50 co-founder Michael Lang disputed this however, noting that Dentsu “don’t have a right to cancel it”, while assuring prospective attendees that the festival “will take place and will be a blast.”
While Lang later claimed that Dentsu “pillaged” almost $18 million in funds, the entire matter recently went before a US court, with Woodstock 50 organisers claiming that Dentsu violated an agreement by announcing the cancellation of the event.
Last month saw a judge ruling in their favour, with organisers stating quite simply that “Woodstock 50 is on.” However, celebrations may have been premature, with the festival again facing a future full of uncertainty.
Check out The Who at Woodstock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F03a-EYvifU
As Billboard notes, Monday saw Woodstock 50 officially lose its planned venue of New York’s Watkins Glen International speedway, not long after officials noted its planned attendance of 150,000 to 200,000 would have to be halved to 75,000 to accomodate safety and site concerns.
Soon after the venue was lost, the newly-adopted event producer CID Entertainment announced that they too would be pulling out of the festival.
“CID Entertainment had been engaged to provide enhanced camping, travel packages and transportation for Woodstock 50,” Dan Berkowitz of CID Entertainment explained. “Given developments, we can confirm that CID is no longer involved in Woodstock 50 in any capacity.”
Despite this new pair of setbacks, organisers still remain positive, with Woodstock’s Gregory Peck explaining that they “are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16-18 and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.”
While we have to admire the positivity of organisers given this run of ridiculous bad luck, it still remains to be seen whether or not Woodstock 50 will indeed take place as planned.
Whatever the case though, with two months to go and tickets not even on sale yet, it’s looking as though things might need to come together very quickly for the iconic festival to celebrate its 50th birthday.
Check out Santana at Woodstock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZceAQSJvc
