More woes for Woodstock 50 as location permit is denied

Watkins Glen International was the intended location for Woodstock 50 (Image credit: Woodstock 50)

Last month, the beleaguered Woodstock 50 festival was plunged into further chaos when it emerged that original site venue Watkins Glen International had pulled their support for the event (opens in new tab).

Despite the latest setback to hit the festival – which has also seen main investors Dentsu Aegis Network withdraw their support, forcing organisers to say the company had “no legal right or ability” to try and cancel it – those behind Woodstock 50 vowed to move forward and secure another location for the event, which is still scheduled to take place on August 16-18.

Variety (opens in new tab) report that a site at Vernon Downs in Oneida County, New York, had been proposed – one of “three or four” possible venues according to organiser Michael Lang – but that the permit to secure the location has now been denied.

The website say that the promoters will appeal the decision, but Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. explains: “What they have submitted to date has not met many of the requirements.”

Picente Jr. adds: “We could have done this with a year or 16 months advance planning, but to do it in three to six weeks is really a near impossibility from a public safety and health standpoint.

“As someone who was here for 1999, some names have changed but it’s largely the same situation.”

A Woodstock 50 spokesperson has since told Variety that they believe “certain political forces may be working against the resurrection of the festival.”

But they add: “With a venue chosen, financing assembled and many of the artists supporting Woodstock’s 50th anniversary event, the organisers are hopeful that their appeal and reapplication tonight will prevail without further political interference.”

Artists including Robert Plant And The Sensational Space Shifters, Greta Van Fleet, Santana, David Crosby And Friends, The Raconteurs, The Killers, Rival Sons, The Zombies and Gary Clark Jr are due to play at Woodstock 50, but at the time of writing, tickets are not yet on sale.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.