You've had to have been living under a rock to not know that this year is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. And if you've spent any time in Sullivan County, you know that Woodstock happened here, in Bethel, not over in Woodstock. (I've always thought that would make a great Final Jeopardy answer --- "The location of the 3 Days of Peace and Music Festival in 1969".)
To mark the 40th anniversary, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts (which is on the site of the original Woodstock festival) is hosting the "Bethel Woods Music Festival — Heroes of Woodstock" this Saturday, August 15th. (They can't call the concert "Woodstock 40" or whatever, because of licensing issues over the name 'Woodstock'.) The multi-act concert, which has been sold out for weeks, starts at 5PM. (Gates open at 3, parking opens at 2.)
If you don't have a ticket, but are thinking about heading over there on Saturday to see if you can buy one, you need to be aware that for this event Bethel Woods will only let you into the parking lots if you already have a ticket to the concert or the museum. (Museum tickets are sold out for Saturday as well.) If you want to pay homage to Woodstock, you may want to swing by the site on Sunday or pay a visit to the museum. I expect there will be lots of pilgrims visiting the "memorial" (at the corner of Hurd and Westshore Roads).
Expect everything around Bethel to be jammed on Saturday, from restaurants to roads. If you're running around the county, plan accordingly.
On a side note, it's been kinda fun this week watching all the Woodstock hype. All the networks have run pieces, and most have sent reporters up from the city to do a piece. (Duke Devlin, the official 'docent' of Woodstock, gave a great interview on ABC with the Yasgur farm fields behind.)
If you're not making a pilgrimage to Woodstock, pull on an old tie dyed t-shirt, throw some tofu on the grill, and regale your kids and grandkids with your memories of the Summer of Love
where was everybody? I thought there would have been thousands of folks.
looks like only a few hundred people showed up.
Posted by: George | August 15, 2009 at 07:46 PM
Dave -
Sales are awful!
Look at the month by month comparisons over the past four years if you dare post this!
August 2009: 13 sold / 21 days
August 2008: 32 sold / 21 days
August 2007: 50 sold / 21 days
August 2006: 44 sold / 21 days
Man, that's bad!
Hey Dave!
Genting (Malaysia) with many gaming and resorts plays in Asia bought a 49% stake in Empire Resorts (Ticker: NYNY / NYSE) two days ago.
Empire gets needed capital, Genting gets an casino/ resort / racetrack investment 90 miles from NYC.
New CEO for Genting who started up Foxwoods in CT now sits on the Empire board. Also an attorney with ties that date back to the 1980's in AC with NJ Revenue Board and Trump.
Cappelli will build it.
Mohawks will run it.
Genting will oversee it.
Echohawk (BIA and DOI) visiting Sully with Hinchey next week.
Two to three years. Maybe less.
Back up the pickup truck.
~Sandy Weill
Posted by: Sandy Weill | August 21, 2009 at 06:56 AM