Promoters will appeal denial of permit
The festival is in jeopardy after a central New York town said the event could not be held there.
The promoters of the planned Woodstock 50 festival say they’ll appeal the denial of a permit to stage the festival at a central New York harness racing track.
The town of Vernon ruled Tuesday that the application to stage the festival at Vernon Downs was too late and incomplete. Vernon Downs, between Syracuse and Utica, emerged as the preferred site for the Aug. 16-18 anniversary festival after the original venue, the Watkins Glen International motor speedway, pulled out last month.
Woodstock 50 organizers said in an email Tuesday night that they remain hopeful they can prevail in Vernon through an appeal and reapplication. They denied their application was incomplete and said they believe unspecified “political forces” were working against the festival.
Tuesday’s permit denial came a day after opponents of the festival packed a Vernon Town Board meeting to voice concerns about safety and traffic in the rural area. Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol told the crowd it would be impossible to ensure public safety on such short notice.
Last week, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said that “with such a short time frame, the logistical hurdles to ensure the public health and safety of the concertgoers and the surrounding community could pose a significant challenge.”
The festival has been plagued by problems almost since it was announced in January: Ticket sales were delayed indefinitely (and they’re still not available), the chief financial backer and production company backed out, the promoters waged a court battle with the backer, and then Watkins Glen, in New York’s Finger Lakes region, announced it would not host the show.
And now, with less than 40 days to go, the festival could be homeless again.
The announced lineup for Woodstock 50 boasts more
than 80 acts, including Jay-Z, Dead & Company, the Killers, John Fogerty, Miley Cyrus, Santana, Robert Plant, Imagine Dragons, Chance the Rapper and Janelle Monáe.
The festival is to mark the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock Music & Art Fair, held in August 1969 on
Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in the Sullivan County town of Bethel. That property currently is home to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
Previous Woodstock anniversary festivals were held in 1994 in Saugerties and 1999 in Rome, N.Y. The 1999 show, just 20 miles north of Vernon
and in the same county, was marred by fires, rioting, looting and reports of sexual assaults.
The Woodstock 50 team is led by longtime Ulster County resident Michael Lang, who also was part of the partnership that put on the 1969, 1994 and 1999 shows.