Does A Farm Have Chairs?

Babies were born, adults died, careers were launched.  The weather ranged from sunny and hot to cloudy with torrential downpours. Tens of thousands were expected, but half a million showed up, many traveling great distances to get there. 

The infrastructure was totally inadequate, probably because organizers couldn’t contemplate such an enormous success. Not enough restrooms, not enough food, not enough medical resources, not enough parking. 

Yet five decades later, Woodstock remains one of the most memorable and significant events in music history, helping to launch a complete change in the direction of music and culture. 

This August 15, 16 and 17 marks the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock.  That is hard to believe. Time flies. 

There was supposed to be an anniversary version of the festival this August, held at the Watkins Glen, NY (near the original site), but the cancellation was announced on the day I started to write this. 

I am not surprised it was cancelled. Mildly disappointed, because the original festival was so significant and boomers love celebrating milestones, but not surprised. 

Generating some confusion, there is another anniversary event ON the original site. More about that in a minute. 

Think about this: if you were 20 years old when you attended the original Woodstock in 1969, you’re 70 now. At age 20, you probably didn’t care about standing in the rain and the mud to hear Santana or Joe Cocker. At 70, you probably want to sit for much of the show. And stay dry. 

Would 500,000 chairs fit on Yasgur’s Farm?  Are any of the rows covered?  How close are the restrooms?  Food? Parking?  How much is the Uber ride from the nearest airport?

Fortunately for whoever would have gone, Watkins Glen International Raceway does have the infrastructure to handle large crowds (around 40,000 but not half a million). Although it is not clear to me if it was going to be there or at nearby Watkins Glen State Park. 

Adding to the confusion ... the event might still happen. Their website thanks fans for their support and organizers claim their ‘situation’ will be resolved. But then later, it didn’t say that.

Possibly more important than my capacity and convenience questions, who was on the lineup for Woodstock50?  I think JayZ, Chance the Rapper, Leon Bridges, Cage The Elephant and other contemporary artists might not be all that appealing to 70-somethings. 

On the other hand, some acts are of interest to that age group: Santana, Melanie, John Sebastian and David Crosby, who all played the original, as well as Robert Plant and others from that era. 

In addition to Santana, Melanie, Sebastian and Crosby (with Stills and Nash), the original 1969 lineup included Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Sly & the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, The Who and many others. Lots of them were well-known at that time but some weren’t. 

An interesting side note about the original... some performers who declined invitations include the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. 

The original Woodstock was staged on a farm and the nearby roads could just not accommodate the unexpectedly huge amount of traffic. I think part of why promoters misjudged the response was the relative lack of advanced mass publicity. There was no internet or social media in 1969. Word of mouth and mentions on some radio stations were much more effective than expected. 

Woodstock 50 had been getting publicity this year, but social media is a crowded place, so that message was probably getting lost. Until this possible cancellation. Even though it was/is to be held at Watkins Glen, presumably with seating, the music mix might be much less appealing across the multiple generations needed to fill the place. 
Price could have been another obstacle. The original festival tickets were $8/day. That’s not a typo. All three days totaled $24. Tickets for the would-be Woodstock 50 are hundreds each. 

So an hour after I had heard about the possible cancellation, I then learned about the competing Woodstock 50th festival planned to happen ON the original site. And that one has not been cancelled. Yet. 

It also hasn’t received much publicity. I did hear something months ago about two festivals, but not much recently. 

This version is part of an anniversary celebration at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which is basically on the site of the original festival on or near Yasgurs Farm. There will be a showing of the Woodstock movie, as well as an interesting mix of performers over three days. Santana (apparently booked for both), Ringo Star (at least one Beatle making up for missing the original), Edgar Winter and the Doobie Brothers. This venue holds 15,000. 

Peace, love and music were among the festival goals fifty years ago. Many aspects of life in 2019 are multigenerational, so maybe either or both of these celebrations can be successful and fun, with a contemporary goal of unity through music. 

My suggestion to organizers, as a Boomer-aged former event planner: please add seats, restrooms and parking to your to-do list. Plenty of restrooms.