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You might have heard that a 50th anniversary celebration of the iconic Woodstock festival is coming to its original site at Bethel, NY—this is not that. No, this is a wholly separate 50th anniversary Woodstock celebration.
"Why does the world need two," you ask?
"Why not!" we say, swinging a Led Zep ‘77 Tour tee wildly in the air.
While the former is being thrown by the original site's groundskeepers Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, this three-day fest is straight from original Woodstock co-creator Michael Lang—making it the bonafide "official" celebration.
Coming to Watkins Glen this August 16–18, this fest won't be announcing any names on the lineup until tickets go up for sale in February. Considering previous anniversary celebrations (see Woodstock‘94 and the ill-fated Woodstock ‘99) have included the likes of Aphex Twin, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Aerosmith and Bob Dylan, you can be sure to expect a mix of big-name headliners across the event's three stages. Lang has stated that at least 40 acts have already been booked—a massive bill bound only to grow. And just like Max Yasgur's field, which hosted the original event's 400,000-deep throng, the site at Watkins Glen boasts a capacity well into the six-digits.
Though the ‘94 event transpired without misfortune, the 30th anniversary celebration Woodstock ‘99 is infamously remembered as a veritable disaster, plagued by sanitation problems, over-priced bottles of water ($4 was a lot back then), drug overdoses, lawsuits and even fires and riots. However, the organizers promise they've found the solutions in better oversight and more hygienic port-a-potties.
So in other words: Tie-dye those bandanas, buy a roll of toilet paper and break out your glamping gear. It's 1969 all over again!