The festival promotion company behind big names like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits is throwing its muscle behind a brand new event to be held this summer at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the hallowed ground of the original Woodstock Festival. The inaugural, folk/Americana-themed Catbird Music Festival will take place at Bethel in Sullivan County on August 19 and 20, a collaboration between the venue, Live Nation, and C3 Presents.
“We’ve wanted to work with C3 Presents for a long time—we always found them to be very creative in their festivals,” says Eric Frances, CEO of Bethel Woods. “We had reached out years ago, then we got sidetracked with the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, then COVID happened.” When a rep finally visited the property last summer for a country show and a tour of the property he immediately saw the potential and thought a collaboration was overdue.
“When you stand over that field, you feel something,” Frances says. “It’s probably what the original promoters felt when they walked the field with Max [Yasgur.] There is something here that is beyond all of us—plus how beautiful it is. And there’s a lot of space to do things and be very creative with the use of the property.”
The two-day festival will be headlined by the Lumineers on Saturday and breakout folk/country star Tyler Childers on Sunday. Other big name acts include The War on Drugs, Dispatch, Trey Anastasio Band, Charlie Crockett, and Amos Lee. “We’re going for that Americana feel. In that realm, in the future we could have anyone from the Brandi Carlisles to the Chris Stapletons of the world,” Frances says. “The undercard this year is very, very cool too. There is a lot of room in that lineup for everyone to find something they like.”
Anastasio will no doubt draw a big crowd of Phishheads (the band has played Bethel close to 10 times over the past decade). “That is an audience that is definitely attuned to the Woodstock story,” Frances says. “We felt they needed to be represented there as well. They tie into what Woodstock was and their predecessors like the Grateful Dead.”
Frances is thoughtful about connections with the original Woodstock Festival. In his eyes, its legacy is the throughline that permeates all that they do at Bethel Woods today. “There were different genres back then than there are now, but it’s still about bringing people here and getting them to experience the magic of the site, which transcends genres of music and forms of art,” he says. “Most people forget that the full name of the festival was Woodstock Music and Art Fair. There was an art show and a whole bunch of outdoor art installations. There is so much richness to the Woodstock story. It became the precursor to Burning Man and all these other things. We are touching on that in our work here every day with the museum, kids programs, songwriting workshops, and more.”
Even the festival’s name, Catbird, suggested by a Bethel employee is a callback to the famous original Woodstock poster, which featured a catbird perched atop the guitar (not a dove as many think). Frances explains that it is also a playful nod to the region—the Sullivan County Catskills. Ha.
And like those original three days of peace and music, Bethel will bring back onsite camping for Catbird, with options ranging from tent and pop-up camping to glamping tents and RV sites plus ADA sites. In advance of the festival, Bethel will be installing water and in-ground sewears.
“It’s all coming together to use the property fully,” says Frances. “Anytime people sleep here, it’s kind of interesting. I think that is part of the Woodstock experience, so I am excited for that.” There hasn’t been camping on-site since the 2019 Mountain Jam Festival and, before that, an electronica festival they tested out in the early days of Bethel.
On the food front, offerings will be curated by Joel Trocino, Executive Chef at Bethel Woods and recent recipient of the Chef of the Year award for Legends Hospitality. “There is so much great food available here in Catskills—we’ve got farms, poultry, and beef,” Frances says. “[Joel] is very cognisant of using local ingredients. So I think you’ll see really good food here that weekend.”
With 1,000 acres and a mass gathering permit for 30,000, Catbird at Bethel Woods has the potential to attract a significant number of visitors and economic development to the region. “It’s a really good line-up for the maiden voyage of a festival,” Frances says. “We’re really excited here. We want people to come here and say, ‘look at what Woodstock has become.’ Hopefully this becomes one of those flagship events that outlives me.”
Catbird Music Festival will take place August 19-20 at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel. Camping and general tickets for Catbird can be purchased online.
