Music

Why was Woodstock 50 cancelled and where was it going to be held?


Woodstock was set to return for its 50th anniversary (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

This week is the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival in the US, but this year’s event celebrating the milestone has been cancelled.

Woodstock 50 was set to commemorate the occasion and it was scheduled to begin on Friday 16 August at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

Several stars were scheduled to perform at the festival including Jay Z and Miley Cyrus.

Here is everything that you need to know about why it was cancelled and what the organisers said about the event.

Why was Woodstock 50 cancelled?

The Woodstock event set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the festival was official cancelled earlier this month.

Organisers described it as ‘a series of unforeseen setbacks’ that caused the event to be cancelled.

Jay-Z was one of the performers scheduled to appear at the event (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Something in the Water)

It was originally cancelled in April due to claims of safety and production issues which led to financial backers pulling out.

The company Dentsu Aegis, told Variety: ‘Despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees.’

The festival was first launched in August 1969 at Max Yasgur’s diary farm in Bethel, New York and it was promoted as ‘3 day of peace & music’.

Organisers had previously been planning to make the 50th anniversary a free benefit concert, before having to cancel it altogether.

After officially confirming that Woodstock 50 would be cancelled, principal of Woodstock 50 Greg Peck said: ‘The unfortunate dispute with our financial partner and the resulting legal proceedings set us off course at a critical juncture, throwing a wrench in our plans and forcing us to find an alternate venue to Watkins Glen.

‘The timing meant we had few choices where our artists would be able to perform.’

MORE: The Who’s Roger Daltrey says Woodstock was ‘like a refugee camp’ as he recalls memories 50 years on

MORE: Archaeologists reveal findings of dig at 1969 hippy lovefest Woodstock





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