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.
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 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.
