Woodstock 50 was a planned music festival originally scheduled to be held on August 16–18, 2019 that was originally intended to be held at the Watkins Glen International racetrack in New York and later the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland. The event was intended as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a landmark festival that was held August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. Just prior to its cancellation, it was announced the event had been reduced from three days to one day. The event faced numerous challenges, including permit and production issues, venue relocations, and artist cancellations. The festival was eventually canceled on July 31, 2019.
Original Woodstock 50 promotional poster
Part of the Watkins Glen International racetrack (pictured in 2014), the original planned venue of the festival.
The festival was to be held at the Merriweather Post Pavilion (pictured in 2017) in Columbia, Maryland.
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles (65 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival, it attracted more than 460,000 attendees. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors despite overcast and sporadic rain. It was one of the largest music festivals in history and became synonymous with the counterculture of the 1960s.
Promotional poster designed by Arnold Skolnick. Originally, the bird was perched on a flute.
Max Yasgur's dairy farm in 1968
Woodstock festival site with the stage
Joe Cocker performs on stage at left before crowd and huge lighting/sound towers.