Woodstock Korea hits another roadblock

The Korean edition of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair has been postponed, following a raft of issues.

The event was due to take place later this month at the Multipurpose Square in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, and would’ve been the legendary festival’s first incarnation outside of the US.

“The Woodstock festival has been postponed to 7-9 October to ensure a safe event operation and to work on the event’s completion. The festival is being postponed, not cancelled,” reads a statement from organisers.

Currently, the lineup is mainly rock and pop acts from Asia, including Japanese hard rock veterans Loudness and a number of seasoned Korean artists.

In early July, the organisers also announced that several overseas artists, including Akon and New Hope Club, would be performing, but these artists did not update the new Woodstock festival changes on their respective home page schedules, prompting doubts about their participation in October.

“The Woodstock festival has been postponed to ensure a safe event operation and to work on the event’s completion”

The festival has already gone through multiple challenges since it was announced in January, including criticism over the choice of venue, a constantly shifting lineup and high ticket prices.

Following criticisms regarding the latter, organisers slashed the three-day ticket price from 400,000 won ($310) to 150,000 ($117).

The original Woodstock festival was held in 1969, with anniversary events taking place in 1994, 1999 and 2009. A 50th-anniversary event was slated for 2019 but was ultimately cancelled due to financial problems.

In 2010, there was an attempt to host a Woodstock festival in Korea, but it never took place because of “copyright and artist lineup issues,” according to the Korea Herald.

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