Woodstock’s Original Bethel, NY Site To Host 50th Anniversary Concert

(AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File) –
In this Aug. 16, 1969 file aerial photo, music fans pack around the stage at the original Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in Bethel, N.Y. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, a concert venue built on the original Woodstock site, announced Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018, that it will host the 50th anniversary of the historic event at the original Woodstock concert site on Aug. 16-18, 2019.

A three-day music festival will be held in August 2019 at the original Woodstock concert site to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic event.

The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, a concert venue built on the original Woodstock site, announced Thursday (Dec. 27) that it will host the golden anniversary event Aug. 16-18.

The center says performers will include “prominent and emerging artists spanning multiple genres and decades.” The venue says talks by “leading futurists and retro-tech experts” will also be featured.

The festival will be produced by concert giant Live Nation. INVNT, a global live brand storytelling agency, also is a partner.

The festival will include live performances “from prominent and emerging artists spanning multiple genres and decades,” organizers said. No acts were announced.

The event also will have TED-style talks from leading futurists and retro-tech experts. Organizers called the festival a “pan-generational music, culture and community event.”

The site is now the location of the Museum at Bethel Woods, which tells the story of the 1960s through immersive media, interactive engagements, and artifacts from the 1969 festival.

A special 2019 exhibit, “We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival and Aspirations for an Aquarian Future,” will be offered during the festival.

“We are thrilled to partner with Live Nation and INVNT to produce Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival,” Bethel Woods President Darlene Fedun said.

“Fifty years ago, people gathered peacefully on our site inspired to change the world through music. As the stewards of this historic site, we remain committed to preserving this rich history and spirit, and to educating and inspiring new generations to contribute positively to the world through music, culture, and community.”

They said details of the event lineup, ticketing, non-musical experiences and brand activity will be released soon.

In recent years, there has been interest in whether there would be a celebration of the festival’s 50th anniversary. Michael Lang, who as a 25-year-old produced the original festival, has floated the possibility of an anniversary festival, but announced no plans.

Beth Woods says the names of performers and speakers will be announced soon.

The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair held Aug. 15-17, 1969 drew more than 400,000 people to Max Yasgur’s farm in the Sullivan County town of Bethel, 85 miles (137 kilometers) northwest of New York City.

A 30th celebration of Woodstock in 1999 was held in Rome, New York but went horribly awry with intense summer heat temperatures, inadequate water supplies, rioting, sexual assaults and bonfires. A 40th celebration at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on Aug. 15, 2009 featured Woodstock’s 1969 alumn iin an eight-hour concert hosted by Country Joe McDonald and which included Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Ten Years After, Jefferson Starship, Mountain, and The Levon Helm Band.