Woodstock 50 woes continue, but organizers still have hope festival will go on

In just a little more than two months, the highly anticipated Woodstock 50 is scheduled to take place, however, the festival seems to have run into yet another production issue — it needs a new venue.

That’s right. It was revealed on Monday that Watkins Glen International — the nearly 100,000 person capacity, New York-based racetrack set to host Woodstock 50 — will no longer house the festival.

The news was confirmed in a statement from the venue’s management, as reported by Variety:

“Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract,” they wrote. “As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract," they wrote. "As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival."

This follows a large number of roadblocks which have collectively prolonged the delay of Woodstock 50 ticket sales, including an unapproved safety permit, the loss of an investor, a faux festival cancellation and a subsequent lawsuit.

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However, according to a statement made by Gregory Peck, the festival’s team still has hope and are supposedly already looking for a replacement venue.

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On Tuesday morning, Peck, Woodstock 50’s principal organizer claimed: “We confirm that we will not be moving forward with Watkins Glen as a venue for Woodstock 50.”

“We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16-18,” he added, “and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on August 16-18," he added, "and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks."

Tickets were initially set to go on sale back in April.

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Shortly after WGI issued its statement, Woodstock’s latest producer, CID Entertainment, reportedly backed out of the event as well.

“CID Entertainment had been engaged to provide enhanced camping, travel packages, and transportation for Woodstock 50,” said CEO Dan Berkowitz in a statement provided to Global News.

“Given developments,” he added, “we can confirm that CID is no longer involved in Woodstock 50 in any capacity.”

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According to Billboard, CID Entertainment was brought in by Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang as a replacement for Superfly — the entertainment company initially set to produce the festival.

Superfly was reportedly enlisted for US$3 million before they backed out. They supposedly cut ties with Woodstock after its key investor, Dentsu Aegis, also backed out and attempted to cancel the festival.

Judge Barry Ostrager of the New York State Supreme Court ordered that Amplifi Live — the live entertainment subsidiary of Dentsu Aegis — did not have the power to cancel the festival.

So now it seems Lang and his team are in need of yet another producer for the festival.

READ MORE: Woodstock 50 back on after judge rules in favour of festival

With little time to spare, the likeliness of Woodstock 50 going forward is dwindling, along with the hopes of many of its potential ticket-buyers.

Here’s what some Twitter users had to say:

Although Peck seemed positive that tickets would be available soon, it’s currently unclear when — or if — tickets will actually go on sale.