Woodstock 2019 Is In the Works, Says Organizer Michael Lang

2018-11-19

Story by Cat Badra, photo by Anne Erickson

Original Woodstock organizer Michael Lang says a 50th anniversary edition of the festival is in the planning stages for 2019

The 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival will happen in August of 2019, and one of the legendary concert event’s chief organizers, Michael Lang, says a new festival to honor that anniversary is currently in the works.

“We have definite plans,” Lang said in a new interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal. “I’m excited. I am indeed.”

When pressed for some details about the event, the Lang simply said, “These are plans. This is not a done deal yet. But it’s very close.” Lang added that an official announcement should happen in the coming weeks.

The original Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place on Aug. 15 through 18, 1969, at a dairy farm owned by Max Yasgur in Bethel, New York, roughly 43 miles from the city of Woodstock. The area where the festival took place is now a concert venue and museum named the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Woodstock was one of the biggest events of the 1960s. About 400,000 people gathered onsite for a weekend of live rock ‘n’ roll, plus plenty of peace, love and partying.

The original Woodstock featured some of the most legendary rock acts of the era, including the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Santana, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, the Grateful Dead, the Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Canned Heat and many more.

Woodstock had 25th and 30th anniversary festivals, which Lang also helped organize. Those events took place in Saugerties, New York, and Rome, New York, respectively.

Cat Badra
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