Woodstock 50th anniversary festival to return to original site

In this Aug. 16, 1969 file aerial photo, music fans pack around the stage at the original Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, lower right, in Bethel, N.Y. (AP)

Woodstock is going back to where it all began to mark its 50th anniversary.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which sits on the land that hosted the iconic Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, will celebrate the milestone with — what else — live music.

On Aug. 16-18, 2019, Bethel Woods, Live Nation and INVNT will present “Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival: Celebrating the golden anniversary at the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival.” It’s described as a “pan-generational music, culture and community event” featuring live music performances and TED-style talks “from leading futurists and retro-tech experts.”

In addition to the existing venues at Bethel Woods, entertainment villages and a number of custom-built performance areas will be created for the festival.

The original Woodstock took place on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City on Aug. 15-18, 1969, drawing more than 400,000 people and featuring performances by Joan Baez, Santana, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Who, The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jimi Hendrix. It was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

The event was captured in Oscar-winning 1970 documentary movie Woodstock, an accompanying soundtrack album, and Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock”. In 2017, the festival site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.