The Disastrous Woodstock 50: What Went Wrong?

A small town says no

After the loss of Watkins Glen, Lang and his partners tried to move to another racetrack — this one for horses — in Vernon, a town 35 miles east of Syracuse with a population of about 5,000.

With less than two months left on the festival clock, organizers faced stiff opposition from local government officials, who were concerned that proper plans could not be implemented in time. The sheriff of Oneida County said he could not guarantee public safety at the event (other happenings, including the Madison-Bouckville antique show, would require his staff).

The town Code Enforcement Office also would not budge. It rejected four permit applications by Woodstock 50; the first two, officials said, were just one page apiece. In rejecting the fourth — which was 237 pages — Vernon’s code enforcement officer, Reay Walker, wrote a withering eight-page letter that pointed to insufficient traffic, parking and security plans, and declared a public safety plan “worthless.”

A last-ditch effort fails

When the town of Vernon issued its last denial, on July 22, Woodstock 50 seemed unsalvageable.

But Lang had one Hail Mary left. He contacted Seth Hurwitz, an independent promoter in Washington, D.C., expressing interest in the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Hurwitz instead pointed him to the Merriweather Post Pavilion, the amphitheater that Hurwitz and his company, I.M.A., manage in the woods of Columbia, Md., which could hold about 30,000 people.

Hurwitz offered Merriweather on the condition that Lang could confirm a lineup, and gave him a tight deadline to do it.

“It won’t be another Fyre Fest,” Hurwitz said in an email interview when Merriweather was announced as the new venue, “because I won’t let them sell any tickets unless I see confirmations in writing from the acts.”