Woodstock 50 logo

Woodstock 50: Michael Lang discusses ticket prices, future plans, more

Tickets to Watkins Glen, NY Woodstock golden anniversary festival Woodstock 50 have still yet to go on sale after the original Earth Day (April 22) on-sale date was postponed, but original festival co-founder Michael Lang has shared a few new details in an interview with Bloomberg. The first of those is the ticket price, which has been the subject of much speculation; according to Lang, three-day passes will “cost around $450.” As mentioned, festival organizers are not currently planning on selling single day passes because of traffic concerns.

The Black Keys cancelled their planned Woodstock 50 set because of a “scheduling conflict,” and Lang revealed that there were other artists he had in mind for the festival that he wasn’t able to lock down. From Bloomberg:

Booking talent has been difficult. Lang tried to lock down Bruno Mars to do a Sly tribute, but the performer was unavailable. And his attempt to nab Lady Gaga proved unsuccessful after she rode the hype from A Star Is Born right into a Las Vegas residency.

The festival’s previous plans for a capacity of 100k may not come to fruition, either. As Poukeepsie Journal reports, Schuyler County, NY Administrator Tim O’Hearn said that while the county “has not set a cap per se,” on attendance, “we have maintained the position that the attendance number would be set at whatever number the production team and promoter could demonstrate they could support with adequate infrastructure and security. That number has been determined to be 75,000.” A permit application for the festival, which is reportedly under review by the NY State Department of Health now, also includes the 75k capacity, according to O’Hearn.

Despite the current delays and uncertainties with Woodstock 50, Lang has big plans for the Woodstock name beyond this anniversary year. He told Bloomberg that he’s planning to take the festival to a different country each year, including Japan, Brazil and Spain, all of which he says he’s had initial talks with. Dentsu Aegis Network, a subsidiary of Japanese advertising and public relations company Dentsu, the fifth largest ad agency in the world, is set to help finance the venture; they are also financing Woodstock 50.