Woodstock 50 festival officially off due to 'series of unforeseen setbacks'
The organizers cancel the anniversary event after Miley Cyrus, Lumineers, Jay-Z, Santana and more drop out.
A music fan at the Woodstock festival in his car covered in anti-war slogans for love and peace. The Woodstock 50 event celebrating the anniversary of the iconic event has been canceled.
The Woodstock 50 music festival is a no-go. The festival made an official statement on Wednesday canceling the event, but said it's hoping the artists already paid to perform will donate 10% of their fees to the charity HeadCount, a nonprofit targeting voter registration in the US.
The legendary Woodstock music festival -- which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in August -- was originally scheduled for Aug. 16 through Aug. 18 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
"We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the festival we imagined with the great lineup we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating," Michael Lang, co-founder of Woodstock, said in the statement.
"We released all the talent so any involvement on their part would be voluntary," Lang added. "Due to conflicting radius issues in the DC area many acts were unable to participate and others passed for their own reasons."
Festival headliner Miley Cyrus announced on Tuesday that she backed out of the festival. Along with other musical acts including the Raconteurs, the Lumineers, Jay-Z and the Dead & Company, John Fogerty also confirmed he will not be performing at Woodstock.
Original Woodstock 1969 performers Santana, John Sebastian and Country Joe McDonald also pulled out of the festival.
Originally published July 31, 7:07 p.m. PT.