As complex. com and Rolling Stone report, Oneida County officials where the proposed festival site Vernon Downs is located, just denied the Woodstock 50 organizers a venue permit. As Antnony Picente Jr., the county administrator, told Variety, “It’s been chaotic, originally it was going to be a three-day festival, but then [the producers] said instead it would be three one-day events, with all 65,000 or however many people vacating the grounds at the end of each day.”
After Watkins Glen International (the initial festival investors) pulled out, the trouble for the festival organizers has kept on mounting. Picente’s additional reasoning is that “the risk of harm was too great when trying to throw together a massive festival on short notice.”
In his response, Greg Peck, the Woodstock 50 president responded with: “We understand the public safety and traffic concerns of the local community. We have been working diligently over the last several weeks to secure the permits needed to hold the festival, and will continue to work with Law Enforcement and Public Safety Officials to present a cohesive safety and traffic plan that will be satisfactory in addressing the concerns.”
So what else is there for Woodstock 50 organizers to do? They have five days to appeal the decision and another five weeks to put together a festival for 65,000 people, and the tickets for the event are not even on sale yet.
