After the original Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, there were many people who wanted to replicate the magic of peace, love and rock n roll. But not all future endeavors were destined for success. Two music festivals in particular, the Bach to Rock Festival in 1970 and the Hamlet of Hurleyville Music Festival in 1979, were both little-known festivals in small New York State towns that ultimately failed and were mostly forgotten with the passage of time. Today we look back on these festivals that were doomed from the start.
The “Bach To Rock” Fiasco
The Bach To Rock Festival was set to take place near the Catskills in Sullivan County in the hamlet of Mountaindale. This was only about 25 miles away from Bethel, NY where Woodstock was first held. It was envisioned as a summer long cultural series with a mixture of opera, broadway music, dance and rock. The promoters hoped to attract 50,000 patrons and host events six days a week from July through August.
The ambitious festival was contentious from the start. After last year’s wild festivities at Woodstock, many locals in Mountaindale were opposed to the sex, drugs and other “unsavory” activities that would likely occur during the event. The disaster at the infamous Altamont festival back in December was still fresh in many minds as well.
Nevertheless, the festival site continued to be developed as a land deal was struck and $250,000 was put into the groundwork. The bill originally boasted acts like Joe Cocker, Grand Funk Railroad, Jethro Tull. However a concert on Randall’s Island that was occurring that same summer left many of the bands legally tied up and unable to perform again in such close proximity.
New bands were booked including the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and The Band.
Then in early July, days before the start of the festival, a restraining order was issued against the Mountaindale Music Festival, prohibiting large public gatherings. The decision was later upheld on by the Sullivan County Supreme Court, one day before the concert was set to take place.
On that day, July 7, the New York Times covered the ruling with an article titled “Court Order Delays Mountaindale Rock Festival.” The Times said the following:
“A borscht circuit of rock musicals that seemed to be developing in the Catskills after last August’s Woodstock Festival suffered a new setback yesterday,” the Times reported, alluding as well to a 54-hour long rock festival that had just concluded, drawing 2,000 people to Saugerties. “A temporary restraining order against the Mountaindale Music and Arts Festival, scheduled to open tonight on its own 700-acre tract in eastern Sullivan County, was upheld by Appellate Justice Michael E. Sweeney.”
But by then over 10,000 people were already on the way to to the small town of Mountaindale. The train was already in motion.
The New York Daily News reported, “Bands of hip mountaineers roamed the Catskills today in a nomadic search for a rock festival that was canceled at the 11th hour by a politician on the other side of the generation gap.”
While the festival was officially canceled, the masses of people threw together a free concert at hotel in South Fallsburg about ten miles from Mountaindale. There were rumors that the Grateful Dead would make an appearance, but besides some local bands the only major act who showed was Richie Havens. Havens had famously been the opener at the original Woodstock festival the year prior.
After the fact, the county’s rulings were upheld in the higher courts establishing a precedent for future mass gatherings, which greatly affected proposals for other music festivals to come.
The Hamlet of Hurleyville Music Festival
Ten years after the original Woodstock, and 9 years after the failed “Bach To Rock”, Sullivan County was once again abuzz with the hopes of music. A three-day festival was set in the Hamlet of Hurleyville with a lineup that included Joni Mitchell, Hall & Oats, Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon, among others. Promoters expected to sell around 250,000 tickets. Tickets were priced at $37.50 for all three days. There were also plans to make an album and documentary film of the festival.
The hopes with this festival was to kick off a new permanent music venue in the area with the hopes of improving the local economy. The festival was envisioned by a local promoter Leon Greenberg who had previously managed to revitalize the Monticello Raceway.
The plans were covered by the likes of the New York Times.
Previous laws against mass gatherings established in Bach to Rock made a large number of hurdles and many locals were opposed to the festivities. A public relations campaign was launched to turn people’s sentiment, with the tagline “Success is a Traffic Jam,” which appeared on buttons and bumperstickers around town.
Ultimately, Greenberg was unable to sway the tides and the town board voted unanimously to deny a permit. The envisioned music venue which was meant to repurpose the site of the old Columbia Farm Hotel remains unused to this day.
On a positive note, the Hamlet of Hurleyville now hosts an annual Hurleyville Music Festival through the Hurleyville Performing Arts Center which engages local artists and the community in a weekend of arts, music and culture.
