Woodstock 50: It’s Happening and Here’s Why

Michael Lang, the co-founder of Woodstock and producer of Woodstock 50, never had any doubt in his ability to stage the 50th anniversary show on August 16th, 17th and 18th in Watkins Glen, New York. And Wednesday’s court ruling was just the latest hurdle he needed to clear to realize his dream.

Michael Lang on what is next in the planning stages for Woodstock 50.

“We’re still looking at a capacity of 75,000 and we’re gonna go with that because of the time element. We’re gonna try and at least announce an on-sale within the next week or 10 days. Everybody’s been waiting for this ruling, I mean, you know, all of the investors that we’ve been talking with who are ready to close our arrangements have been waiting for this as well. So, we just have to move everything very quickly and we have an amazing production partner coming in — I can’t discuss who it is yet, but when that’s announced I think everybody will be really pleased. And now we just have to work a little faster.”

And Lang’s partner, Gregory Peck, agrees, comparing the whole process to buying a house:

“We needed this ruling. We needed to have clarity with our financing partners going forward that we can produce the festival without any question. So now that we have the ruling we’re moving forward to closing on financing for the festival. So there’s no issue. It’s like buying a house — you want it free and clear and that’s essentially what the ruling gives us.”

Ironically, Lang went through a similar situation with the original festival in 1969. That was when dairy farmer Max Yasgur stepped in and allowed Lang and his partners to use his field in Bethel, New York.

So, to recap:

Woodstock 50 is a go
All the artists have been paid in full
All the artists announced are still on board
Lang is looking to replace The Black Keys who pulled out due to production scheduling for their next album
All the permits are in place and it’s just a matter of administrative details
It will be a camping festival, although there will be a limited amount of single-day tickets
Tickets for the weekend will be under $400
Lang says the majority of the problems have been blown out of proportion and they will work through it
The schedule for the next three months is in place
The first order of business is to seed the fields at the Watkins Glen raceway and to work on the interior roads

And, as a reminder, among the artists scheduled to perform are: