Woodstock 2019? 50th Anniversary Concert Being Planned

Michael Lang, one of the founding organizers of the original Woodstock festival that drove thousands to Max Yasgur's family farm in Bethel, NY for three days of peace, love and music in August of 1969, has revealed that a 50th anniversary concert is being planned.

Following the seminal 1969 event that featured performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joan Baez and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young among others, anniversary concerts were held in 1994 in Saugerties and again in 1999 in Rome, New York. Lang had attempted to organize a 40th anniversary concert in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, but as Stereogum reports, that idea never materialized.

Lang, who currently lives in New York's Ulster County which is home to the town of Woodstock--notably an hour and a half drive from the actual site of the original Woodstock where Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts now sits--announced that "discussions are under way with potential partners and different locations are being explored," JamBase.com reports.

The organizer also hinted that an international installment of the festival to be held overseas in addition to a stateside festival is also a possibility. Details regarding potential lineups have yet to be revealed.

Lang also stated that he ultimately plans on staging an annual festival to continue beyond the 50th anniversary event, using the same name. "Woodstock is the original and most famous festival brand. With the prevalence of festivals out there, and all the excitement about them, maybe it's time for that," the Poughkeepsie Journal reports.

In the almost-50 years since 400,000 festival goers left Yasgur's farm at the close of the 1969 event, Bethel Woods has hosted countless concerts and museum events. However, Mysteryland USA is the only production to be granted multi-day access--including camping--to the full grounds of the original festival.

Relive one of the crowning moments of the 1960s, when Jimi Hendrix thrashed his way through "The Star Spangled Banner" at the original festival, below.

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