Woodstock 50 has been hit with more ongoing issues as it was announced today that the festival, dubbed a 50th anniversary event of the iconic 1969 festival, has now lost its venue.
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The festival was scheduled to take place at New York racetrack, Watkins Glen International. However, the venue issued a statement earlier today saying this would now no longer be the case.
It read: “Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract. As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival.”
In turn, Woodstock organisers CID Entertainment then confirmed that Watkins Glen would no longer host the event.
“CID Entertainment had been engaged to provide enhanced camping, travel packages and transportation for Woodstock 50. Given developments, we can confirm that CID is no longer involved in Woodstock 50 in any capacity,” they said.
Confirming plans for a new venue, a Woodstock spokesperson said: “We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16—18 and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.”
The beleaguered festival has been plagued with issues over the months since its announcement. In April, the event was plunged into turmoil after its primary funding partner Dentsu Aegis Network withdrew its financial commitment and announced the “cancellation” of Woodstock 50.
Later, organisers issued a statement to deny it had been shelved. Lang, the promoter of Woodstock 50 and one of the lead organisers of the 1969 event, also told The New York Times that Dentsu “do not have the right to unilaterally cancel the festival.”
After this, Lang reportedly sent a five-page letter to Dentsu accusing them of having “illegally swept approximately $17 million from the festival bank account”. The document, obtained by Pitchfork, also saw Lang claim that the company were responsible for blocking the sales of tickets – alleging that Dentsu had advised artists, vendors, and more to cut ties with Woodstock 50.
There had been further lingering doubts about the festival in recent months, with ticket sales postponed and still not on sale and The Black Keys deciding to pull out of their slot.