Woodstock 1969

Woodstock 1969

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Two Woodstock 50th Anniversary Events Planned For Aug. 2019

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As the golden birthday of the historic music festival approaches, available rooms in Sullivan County for Aug. 15–18 are already in limited supply, even before the lineups or major details for either event have been announced
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 2, 2019 - 1:54 pm

Judging by the rapid rate hotels and Airbnbs are been being booked in Sullivan County, the site of the iconic ’69 Woodstock Music And Arts Fair, music fans from around the world are ready and excited to celebrate the historic fest's 50th birthday.

Two music festivals will take place on the anniversary weekend, one unofficial at the Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, and an official 50th celebration at a to-be-announced venue, hosted by organizers of the original event.

If you want to take part in the magic of the Woodstock 50th anniversary events and stay in Sullivan County during the long weekend of Aug. 15–18, you should think about booking a room soon. The Times-Herald Record Of Middletown reports that hotels, Airbnbs and everything in between have been booking up quickly, even before official news of an anniversary event had been revealed last month.

The newspaper also shared that many places to stay near the Bethel Woods Center—the venue which now lives at the site of the original event—are already completely booked with already-lengthy waiting lists. One hotel, which is still under construction and set to open this summer, is already fully booked with a waitlist, and shared that their first guest inquiry came in two years ago.

"There's a lot of interest on the domestic front and the international front, whether you were there in 1969, or just want to be here today," said Sullivan County Visitors Association CEO Roberta Byron Lockwood.

In terms of how exactly you can relive Woodstock in Upstate New York this August, the two major events are the aforementioned Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival, hosted by Live Nation, INVNT (a "global brands communication agency") and Bethel Woods Center. Meanwhile, Michael Lang, the co-creator of the original event, has just confirmed an Official Woodstock 50 Celebration. Further details and a location are yet to be revealed.

The organizers of the Bethel Woods Festival describe their three-day event as a "pan-generational music, culture, and community event" with "live performances from prominent and emerging artists spanning multiple genres and decades, and TED-style talks from leading futurists and retro-tech experts." Attendees will get to visit the venue's year-round Woodstock-centric museum which will feature special new 2019 exhibit called We Are Golden: Reflections On The 50th Anniversary Of The Woodstock Festival And Aspirations For An Aquarian Future.

"50 years ago, people gathered peacefully on our site inspired to change the world through music," said Darlene Fedun, Bethel Woods Center CEO. "As the stewards of this historic site, we remain committed to preserving this rich history and spirit, and to educating and inspiring new generations to contribute positively to the world through music, culture, and community."

Lang, who was one of the main promoters for Woodstock '69 and has been hinting at an official 50th anniversary event for some time, confirmed minimal details with the Poughkeepsie Journal, who on Dec. 19 wrote that Lang had "definite plans" for an anniversary concert not held at the original location.

On Dec. 30, Woodstock Ventures, which runs the official Woodstock website and works with Lang, shared a statement from the co-founder:

"While the original site in Bethel remains close to our hearts, it no longer has the capacity to hold a real Woodstock Festival. I'm delighted that Bethel Woods is doing events in the coming year to celebrate what we brought to life in 1969," wrote Lang.

However you choose to celebrate Woodstock's 50th anniversary, Sullivan County is ready to welcome you this summer with peace and love vibes, complete with 36 fiberglass dove statues painted by local artists in '60s-inspired colors.

Just make sure to book a place to stay sooner rather than later, unless you want to relive the memories of many would-have-been-Woodstock-goers stuck on Route 17B, aka Woodstock Way.

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Woodstock 1969

Woodstock 1969

Photo: John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Official Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival Location & Date Confirmed

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"Woodstock, in its original incarnation, was really about social change and activism. And that's a model that we're bringing back to this festival," organizer Michael Lang reveals
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 9, 2019 - 2:27 pm

As the 1969 Woodstock Music And Arts Fair approaches 50 years, music fans have been anticipating any and all news surrounding a possible half-century celebration. Now, Michael Lang, one of the original event's organizers, has shared new details around Woodstock’s confirmed 50-year event, including a new location.

Today, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Lang re-confirmed that the official event will be taking place Aug. 16–18 in Upstate New York, but not in Sullivan County, home to Bethel Woods. He also revealed the challenge of finding a space that would work, settling on Watkins Glen, a more remote location with enough open space to host what will around six figure’s worth of attendees. The rustic locale has hosted several huge concerts before, including approximately 600,000 people in 1973 for the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead and the Band (all of whom also performed at Woodstock '69).

There may not be many hotels by Watkins Glen, but apparently there will be glamping: "I was desperate to keep it in New York. I looked everywhere because I needed 1,000 acres of clear land with access and infrastructure," Lang told Rolling Stone. "When I looked [at Watkins Glen], I knew it was the perfect facility for what we had in mind. It was reminiscent to me of finding Max [Yasgur]'s field."

Watkins Glen is about 160 miles from Sullivan County, so for music fans who have already booked rooms (a large portion of hotels and Airbnbs are already booked for Aug. 16–18) and want to attend the official Woodstock '19, you may want to reconsider your concert accommodations.

While no performers have been announced for either the official event or the previously announced unofficial anniversary concert at Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, Lang did offer some juicy hints as to what’s in store, namely that performers will begin to be announced in February when tickets go on sale.

Lang said that over 40 performers have been booked three stages, including some big names. "It'll be an eclectic bill. It'll be hip-hop and rock and some pop and some of the legacy bands from the original festival," he explained.

He continued that attendees and those tuned into the live stream can expect that newer artists will pay tribute to original Woodstock performers like Santana, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

"Having contemporary artists interpret that music would be a really interesting and exciting idea. We're also looking for unique collaborations, maybe some reunions and a lot of new and up-and-coming talent," Lang shared.

He hopes that this mix of talent and sounds, along with promotion of Woodstock's peace, love and activism ideals, will help draw a "multi-generational" crowd.

"A lot of festivals these days are kind of cookie-cutter,” he said. Very few of them have any sort of social impact [and] that's a wasted opportunity. Woodstock, in its original incarnation, was really about social change and activism. And that's a model that we’re bringing back to this festival. It's a gathering for fun and for excitement and for experiences and to create community, but it's also about instilling kind of an energy back into young people to make their voices heard, make their votes heard."

Stay tuned to grammy.com for updates on the Woodstock '19 lineup, and for all the big 2019 festivals as well.

Dove Statues To Decorate Upstate New York For Woodstock's 50th Anniversary

Santana

Santana at Woodstock

Photo: Tucker Ransom/Getty Images

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Dove Statues To Decorate Upstate New York For Woodstock's 50th Anniversary

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As the iconic 1969 music and arts festival approaches its golden birthday, fiberglass doves will be painted by local artists and placed around Sullivan County to commemorate the event
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 21, 2018 - 2:51 pm

On Aug. 15, 1969, one of the most iconic live music events of the 20th century began on a farm in Bethel, N.Y. Now, as the historic Woodstock Music And Art Fair approaches its 50th anniversary, the desire to honor that special moment is deepening: While a 2019 Woodstock festival has not been officially announced, Sullivan County in Upstate New York is preparing to commemorate the famous fest's 50th birthday.

County officials recently announced that they have commissioned local artists to paint 36 dove statues in groovy '60s-inspired colors as a tribute to Woodstock, a nod to the dove in its original logo. The doves will be placed in various communities in Sullivan County by June 2019 and will remain past the anniversary in August.

Plenty of rumors continue to abound as to whether or not an official 2019 Woodstock festival will take place. One of the event original promoters, Michael Lang, has continued to leave fans eagerly hanging for more information.

On Dec. 19, Poughkeepsie Journal reported that Lang had told them there are "definite plans" for an anniversary concert next year, but it would not be held at the original location, where Bethel Woods Center For The Arts now lives. They said "an official announcement will be coming soon."

As music fans await for confirmation that a 2019 Woodstock is indeed happening, they can feel relief that the GRAMMY-winning living legend himself, Carlos Santana, is set on celebrating its 50th birthday with a special show. He and his band performed on day two of Woodstock, the same month they released their debut album, Santana.

Santana Wins Album Of The Year

Earlier this month he told Billboard that Santana would indeed be celebrating the 50th anniversaries of that album and their Woodstock performance, along with the 20th birthday of their GRAMMY-winning album, Supernatural, which earned the band a whopping eight wins, including for Album Of The Year, at the 42nd GRAMMY Awards. Billboard reports that he's already booked "his own show" at Bethel Woods.

"We've talked to Michael Lang, but we don't know if he has secured a place. If they invite me, I'm in," Santana said. "Woodstock and Supernatural, I view them as a gimongous door that I walked through to the other side. They took me to places I never dreamed were possible...and that just inspires me to keep reaching and searching with everything else I do."

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Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana

Photo: Jason Squires/WireImage/Getty Images

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Santana Plans Epic 2019 Supernatural Now Tour With The Doobie Brothers

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The GRAMMY-winning group, led by living legend Carlos Santana, has planned a massive year to celebrate both the 20th birthday of the classic Supernatural and the 50th anniversary of their Woodstock performance
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 16, 2019 - 1:50 pm

The GRAMMY-winning legendary guitarist Carlos Santana is ready to make 2019 the year of Santana. He and his band have not only planned multiple headlining festival appearances, but they have also just announced a three-month tour and brand-new music on the horizon.

The 2019 Supernatural Now tour will take Santana across North America for 29 shows beginning in Phoenix, Ariz. on June 22. The summer tour stops at plenty of amazing venues—many of them outdoors—including the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Austin360 Amphitheater in Austin, Tex., closing out on Aug. 25 at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., one of the only major outdoor venues in the New York metro area. Fellow GRAMMY-winners the Doobie Brothers will be the special guests for all 29 dates.

The tour announcement also shares that fans who purchase tickets for the concert, for which the presale begins on Jan. 18, will receive "a new full-length album of highly energetic and hypnotic songs, rhythms, melodies and grooves from Santana." There is no further information about when this album will be released, but the world will definitely get a taste of new Santana grooves on Jan. 25 when their new EP, In Search of Mona Lisa, drops.

In an interview with the iconic guitarist, Rolling Stone reports that this album was inspired by his first trip to the Lourve Museum in 2016 and a connection he felt with the spirit of the famous painting.

While Mr. Santana had originally shared being in conversation with organizer Michael Lang to be a part of the official Woodstock 50th celebration, his discussion with the magazine reveals that his band will be performing at the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival in August, the unofficial 50th anniversary celebration of Woodstock, hosted by Live Nation. The event will take place on the site of the historic festival's original home, where a young group from San Francisco wowed the large audience with their performance of "Soul Sacrifice."

"They have an amphitheater there. I'm going to invite whoever is still here, whether it's Joan Baez or members from Sly Stone, and I'm going to play Santana music," he told the publication. "Santana's going to be the house band, but I want to be able to honor those who are still here and maybe invite rappers like Common or Kendrick Lamar."

The group also has plans for other festival appearances before they embark on their summer tour, including a literal rodeo in Houston on March 13, the New Orleans Jazz Fest on April 26 and BottleRock Napa Festival on May 26, plus several stops in Mexico, including the Pal Norte Festival in Monterrey on March 23. And as if that wasn't enough evidence that Santana is ready to own 2019, they have extended their limited-run residency at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas.

On the band's site, Mr. Santana shared some thoughts on the significance of both his Woodstock and Supernatural anniversary:

"Both were monumental moments in my life. Woodstock and Supernatural took me to places I never dreamed were possible. I embraced those incredible moments in my life with all my heart. Both were supreme lessons in maintaining focus, heart and integrity in every step every day and to strive to better oneself with a high standard on and off the stage. I cannot think of these two moments without thinking about Mr. Bill Graham and Mr. Clive Davis. They are two of many angels in my life that helped shape my career."

Supernatural, with unforgettable songs like "Smooth" featuring Rob Thomas and "Maria Maria" featuring The Product G&B, will turn 20 on June 15. The timeless 1999 album swept the 42nd GRAMMY Awards with eight total wins, including Album Of The Year.

Watch Carlos Santana's GRAMMY highlights

For info on all performance dates, visit the band's site. Tickets for Supernatural Now tour go on sale to the public on Jan. 25, with fan presale beginning Jan. 18.

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Florence & The Machine

Florence & The Machine

Photo: Scott Dudelson/WireImage/Getty Images

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Governors Ball 2019: The Strokes, Tyler, The Creator And Florence & The Machine To Headline

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The NYC music festival returns on May 31–June 2 with plenty of music to rock the island; the impressive lineup also includes Nas, Lil Wayne, Kaytranada, Noname, Charli XCX, Gesaffelstein and BROCKHAMPTON
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 7, 2019 - 12:56 pm

Today the Governors Ball Music Festival announced the lineup for their ninth year on Randall's Island Park in New York City. Running from May 31–June 2, Governors Ball 2019 will welcome headliners The Strokes and past GRAMMY nominees Tyler, the Creator and Florence & the Machine.

The three-day event of music, art, food and fun—"A Festival with a New York Heart," according to The New York Times—certainly brings an N.Y.C.-inspired melting pot approach to their musical lineup, and this year does not disappoint. Musical highlights also include: GRAMMY winners Lil Wayne and Kacey Musgraves, GRAMMY nominees SZA, Nas, The Internet, Jorja Smith, Bob Moses, Charli XCX, ZHU, plus Vince Staples, BROCKHAMPTON, Blood Orange, Clairo, Bazzi, MØ, Major Lazer (DJs Jillionaire, Walshy Fire and GRAMMY winner Diplo), Noname, Kaytranada, Gesaffelstein and King Princess.

Discounted "Announce Day" pricing for festival tickets is available today until 11:59 EST. More info on tickets, as well as the complete lineup and event details can be found on the Governors Ball site.

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