Woodstock festival to land in Korea for first time

The legendary Woodstock festival is coming to Korea with the theme of "freedom, peace and love."

The festival will be held from July 29 to 30, at the Hantangang River Geopark complex, in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province in memory of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement, SGC Entertainment announced Friday. The company said it has signed an official copyright agreement with the Woodstock Music and Art Fair to host the three-day festival in Korea.

Launched in 1969 in Bethel, New York, this would be the first Woodstock festival to take place outside the US.

With legendary artists including Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin taking part at the festival, Woodstock caught the attention of the counterculture generation audiences who called for peace, civil rights, diversity and freedom.

The iconic festival celebrated its anniversaries in 1994, 1999 and 2009 but the 50th anniversary festival in 2019 was abruptly canceled due to lineup issues and financial problems.

In 2010, an attempt to host a Woodstock festival in Korea failed over copyright and artist lineup issues.

Artists’ lineup for July has not been revealed, but some 30 performances are expected to be staged, according to the agency.