Woodstock 50 is relocating to Maryland — but Jay-Z reportedly won't be coming

Woodstock 50 is apparently still on after its financial backer said in April it was canceled. But with three weeks left to go, tickets still aren't on sale, the location is being moved, and one of the biggest performers has just dropped out.

Originally planned to take place at New York's Watkins Glen International and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the music festival had to find a new location after the venue pulled out. Permits were repeatedly denied in this search for a new host, but on Thursday, Bloomberg reported the plan is now to move it to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland in hopes this will "salvage" the event. Tickets, The Washington Post notes, were supposed to go three months ago but still aren't available.

Bloomberg's Thursday report noted that "organizers are now holding conversations with artists and their representatives" but speculated that some might pull out given the new location, and indeed, The Associated Press reported on Friday that Jay-Z has dropped out of the event. Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty also will no longer perform.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Other major names attached to Woodstock 50 — at least for now — include Miley Cyrus, Janelle Monáe, Robert Plant, and Imagine Dragons, though it hasn't yet been confirmed who is still on board following the Maryland relocation, and The New York Times notes the artists' contracts were "tied to its originally planned venue" in New York. The chair of the company that operates the Merriweather Post Pavilion offered simply to the Post that "if the bands come, we'll produce the show."

Only weeks remain to prevent Woodstock 50 from turning into the next Fyre Festival, as it's currently scheduled to begin on August 16.