Woodstock 50 suffers another devastating blow with venue loss

For the organizers of Woodstock‘s 50th anniversary, things were (kind of) looking up since the “official” cancellation announcement in April 2019. After the arrival of another last-minute investor, the event seemed to be somewhat salvageable. However, the iconic festival brand has just hit another roadblock, ultimately unable to secure venue permits for the use of Watkins Glen International (WGI). Thus, Woodstock lost its temporary home almost two months prior to the planned start date.

To recap, there’s been a lot of back and forth between former entities associated with the festival’s roll out and the festival organizers themselves, mainly co-founder Michael Lang. There were no ticket sales on the event’s intended sale date and, one week later, Dentsu Aegis—the festival’s primary investor—pulled out, taking their money with them. Lang continued maintaining a positive outlook, and after a hard-fought lawsuit, a New York Court Judge gave him a break, allowing he and the organizers to seek funding elsewhere.

So, elsewhere they looked, finding a glimmer of hope with investment bank and financial services company Oppenheimer & Co. Yet, it seems the underlying issues persisted and Woodstock has now lost its venue.

According to Rolling Stone, a rep for the speedway said “Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract.” The publication also spoke to a rep for the New York State Police, who stated that the organizers hadn’t met the concerns of a particular trooper.

There is still no word on how Lang’s team will proceed, however, Woodstock 50 was originally supposed to commence on August 16 with a number of key headliners. Stay tuned for updates.

H/T: Rolling Stone