For the third time, organizers of the Woodstock 50 festival had their proposal for a permit to produce the event at Vernon Downs race tack rejected Tuesday evening, this time by the town’s Planning Board.
Immediately after the decision, Richard Branson’s Virgin Produced, who has been advising the Woodstock 50 team, officially pulled out of the project. A statement from Virgin Produced’s publicist reads: “Given that the attempt to secure permits with the Town of Vernon, NY and related state agencies has been finally denied, Virgin Produced has concluded its advisory mandate and terminated its services agreement. Virgin Produced, and its CEO Jason Felts, wish Woodstock all the best in its future endeavors.”
Festival organizers followed up with their own statement given to Billboard late last night, which stated: “Woodstock 50 is disappointed that the Town of Vernon has passed up the opportunity to hold the historic 50th Anniversary Festival by denying our robust and thoughtful proposal. We regret that those in Vernon who supported Woodstock have been deprived of the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of the rebirth of a cultural peace movement that changed the world in 1969 and is what the world needs now. We want to thank the artists who stood by us. We are grateful for the support of Vernon Downs and its generous owner Jeffrey Gural.”
Woodstock 50 organizers also told WFXV reporter Ben Dennis, who live-tweeted much of yesterday’s appeal hearing, that they planned to reapply for permits Wednesday morning.
It was unknown whether or not festival organizers had, in fact, resubmitted their application for permits at the time of publication.