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July 26 (UPI) -- Woodstock 50 is relocating to Maryland after experiencing financial and permit issues. Bloomberg confirmed Thursday that the annual music festival will hold its 50th anniversary celebration Aug. 16-18 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md.
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Organizers have been working to save the festival since their main financier backed out and local officials in upstate New York, where the event was originally to take place, refused to approve a permit. Organizers were unable to relocate within New York.
"When we heard that there was an opportunity to save this festival and bring a piece of American history to our community this summer, we jumped at the chance," Howard County executive Calvin Ball wrote in a note to festival organizer Greg Peck.
"Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia is a jewel of Howard County and one of the top music venues in the nation. It felt like such a natural fit to host a historic festival on our storied stage," he added.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater 270 miles south of Bethel, N.Y., the site of the 1969 festival and the original location for the 2019 event. Variety said Merriweather has an official capacity of 19,000-plus but can be expanded to accommodate over 32,000 people.
Jay Z, Miley Cyrus, Chance the Rapper and other stars were slated to perform when the festival was first announced, but the lineup is unclear following the move. Singer and musician John Fogerty was the first to publicly announce he will no longer perform at the festival.
"John Fogerty knows where he will be for the anniversary weekend of Woodstock," Fogerty's rep said in a statement Thursday to Variety. "At only one site... at the original one -- the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts."
