The similarly over-subscribed Woodstock was dogged by allegations of sexual assault and crowd misbehavior, and its rampant corporate sponsorships and high ticket prices left a bad taste. Woodstock 50, helmed by the original team, was supposed to be different. Yet just two weeks out from the event, it appears to have been canceled altogether. Up until July 31, the plan was for Woodstock 50 to take place Aug. The location set for Woodstock 50 changed multiple times due to permit issues for the event, with New York state options ultimately scrapped.
On July 31, Variety confirmed that the festival is canceled. We thank the artists, fans and partners who stood by us even in the face of adversity.
My thoughts turn to Bethel and its celebration of our 50th Anniversary to reinforce the values of compassion, human dignity, and the beauty of our differences embraced by Woodstock. The organizers insisted it was not, and a series of back-and-forth claims about mismanagement and permit issues ensued.
As of late July , the festival was still on, however — just relocated to Maryland and with a revised lineup. Judge Barry Ostrager said that Dentsu could not legally cancel the festival but that it was OK for Dentsu to hold onto its own money.
But fate struck again in June when Watkins Glen International said it was canceling its contract , forcing the fest to find a new venue. About a month later, it was revealed that Woodstock 50 had been courting the Vernon Downs Casino and Hotel as a potential festival site.
The organizers held local town halls with promises of free refreshments as a means to curry the favor of locals but did not succeed. On Tuesday, July 16th, town officials voted unanimously to bar the festival from happening in their town. A day after that decision, Virgin Produced, which had been advising the Woodstock team, announced it was pulling its support. But even when Vernon Downs denied their permit application a fourth time, organizers carried on with the festival. They set their sights on the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, and sparked rumors of a free event, despite the fact that Smashing Pumpkins were already booked there that weekend.
Seth Hurwitz, the chairman of I. A lot of people clearly wanted it to happen. Sources tell Rolling Stone that every act was paid in advance. In the beginning, veteran artists expressed excitement over the festival.
Dentsu said in court that they ended up begrudgingly paying the artists tens of millions of dollars. At the press conference, no mention was made of ticket prices or on-sale dates, but everyone was left to assume that information was forthcoming.
But that absence of information was one sign of the growing discord behind the scenes, which continued to include conflicting estimates of how many people could pack into Watkins Glen.
The Woodstock team remained convinced in emails that they would get more than , ticket-holders there, but when Superfly assessed the venue site, its estimate was closer to 65, people. Susan and I … are transforming our lives to make this work. Michael has given his career and is giving it his all now to make this work. It will work.
I guarantee it. Not from a safety point of view nor from a customer satisfaction point of view. The target had always been [, to ,].
We think the number should be Lang, an expert salesman clad usually in casual T-shirts or jeans, went into full pitchman mode to make sure the racetrack would be home to Woodstock On March 27th, he and reps from Superfly participated in a town-hall public meeting in Watkins Glen to discuss the festival and its impact on the area.
Lang told the crowd that Woodstock 50 would be a celebration of the values of the original Woodstock and would address current social issues that needed attention. Although he got some laughs and answered questions, not everyone was pleased with what they heard. Yet the one group of people Lang failed to win over were Watkins Glen officials. The tug-of-war over attendance appeared to settle down in April, when Watkins Glen submitted the permit application.
Peck later said he thought it could still be profitable. We will get this information to you as soon as we receive it. Skepticism about Woodstock 50 was already in the air, but these developments added to the sense that something was seriously off. I got a production company that does state-of-the-art work in Superfly. And with Wimmer, we did a miraculous job, frankly, of putting a lineup together in two months that usually takes two years.
I think that we had the right approach to it. Meanwhile, construction on the campgrounds was still not underway. The venue ultimately refused to sign it. Once Superfly had gained a better understanding of the terrain, the company decided that Watkins Glen could only host 61, people — 4, fewer than it had originally projected.
Things never went that far. Dentsu piled on the beleaguered festival by sending a breach-of-contract notice on April 17th. But in its complaint, Dentsu claimed Woodstock 50 kept booking more artists. A number well beyond the attenuated goal. Many connected to the festival felt the dropoff in profits made the idea of participating far less appealing to Dentsu. The company had had enough and, on April 18th, it stopped making large payments out of the festival bank account.
The day after Dentsu stopped paying out of the festival bank account, agents learned that Woodstock 50 would be missing its on-sale date for tickets. By that time, the ticket issue was another major problem between the organizers and those in control of the purse strings.
Among other grievances, he wrote that the festival would have to cut most of the camping options and restructure the pricing accordingly. Is this really going to happen? Peck, in a futile attempt to correct course, pleaded with Dentsu just after midnight on April 22nd to put tickets on sale anyway. On the morning of April 29th, Superfly was still trying to figure out the logistics of Woodstock But Dentsu would issue a seemingly out-of-nowhere statement that would shut down all preparation.
As difficult as it is, we believe this is the most prudent decision for all parties involved. With that news, other aspects began to collapse or be put in suspended motion. Officials with Dentsu announce Woodstock 50 is cancelled because they fear the event wouldn't be "worthy of the Woodstock brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees. However, just hours after Dentsu announced the festival was cancelled, Lang sends an email to the Woodstock mailing list saying not to fret: Woodstock 50 would continue as planned, even without its financial backer.
Woodstock belongs to the people and it always will," Lang wrote in the statement. Two days after Dentsu announced it was pulling its funding, production company Superfly confirms it is also backing out of the event. A representative for Lang and Peck reportedly approached Live Nation and AEG about investing in the festival, but both turned the offer down. Ahead of the afternoon hearing, Dentsu's attorney Marc L.
Greenwald pens a lengthy memorandum of law in opposition to the emergency injunction, calling out Woodstock 50's and Lang's "misrepresentations, incompetence, and contractual breaches. Kasowitz repeatedly expresses the historical and sentimental significance of Woodstock 50 before New York Supreme Court justice Barry R. Peck was the only witness of three to make it to the stand before the court adjourned for the day, pushing the hearing into a second day.
Lang releases a statement shortly after the decision declaring victory, but Woodstock 50's fate still remains up in the air without needed funding to secure permits and run the festival.
The request was not fulfilled and on June 3, Speedway president Michael Printup sends a certified letter to Peck and Lang informing them "the final payment has not been received and WGI is officially terminating [the licensing agreement]. Peck refused to accept the letter and Printup consequently informs Peck of the termination via email on June 7. June 10, - Woodstock 50 loses venue, producer and permit application -- yet remains optimistic.
Less than an hour after Watkins Glen International speedway announced it would no longer host the concert, CID Entertainment issues a statement saying it is ending its involvement with the event and the New York State Department of Health separately says its permit application is being rescinded.
In response to the news, Woodstock releases the following reaction statement: "We confirm that we will not be moving forward with Watkins Glen as a venue for Woodstock We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16thth and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.
Felts has not announced whether he will produce the revived Woodstock 50, but is currently serving as a consultant to determine the event's feasibility, due diligence needs and operational and financial assessment. In that permit, the proposed capacity was 45,, people -- far smaller than the , planned for at Watkins Glen International.
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