GAB Archive/RedfernsWith the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival scheduled for August of 2019, one of the historic concert event’s organizers, Michael Lang, says a new fest commemorating the milestone is in the planning stages.
“We have definite plans,” Lang tells the Poughkeepsie Journal. “I’m excited. I am indeed.”
Asked if he could give any concrete details about the event, the 73-year-old promoter and entrepreneur says. “These are plans. This is not a done deal yet. But it’s very close.”
He adds that an official announcement will be issued soon.
The original Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held August 15-18, 1969, at a dairy farm owned by Max Yasgur in Bethel, New York, which actually is 43 miles from the town of Woodstock. The site is now a concert venue and museum called the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
The festival was one of the defining events of the 1960s, bringing together an estimated 400,000 people for a weekend of peace, love, drugs and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll.
Among the many artists who performed at Woodstock were Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Who, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Grateful Dead, Joe Cocker, Richie Havens, The Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Canned Heat and Country Joe and the Fish.
Lang also helped organize 25th and 30th anniversary Woodstock festivals, respectively, in Saugerties, New York, and Rome, New York.
He says the new festival will reflect the values of the original Woodstock generation and promote themes like sustainability, activism and social justice, which “hopefully encourage people to get involved with our lives on the planet.”
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