Woodstock 50 was expected to cost organizers around $70 million.

But the anniversary festival lost its site at Watkins Glen International because organizers failed to make a final $150,000 payment to the racetrack.

That’s according to a letter and email from Watkins Glen International to Woodstock 50 and former financial partner Dentsu Aegis' Amplifi Live division, which Dentsu attached in a letter filed to the state Appellate Court Wednesday.

The correspondence sheds light on the racetrack's announcement on Monday that it would not be hosting the Woodstock 50 festival, set for Aug. 16-18.

Representatives of Watkins Glen International and Dentsu both declined comment Thursday.

"Watkins Glen International terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract," read a statement issued by the racetrack on Monday. "As such, WGI will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival."

The correspondence also escalates the drama and doubt surrounding Woodstock 50, which is scheduled to begin two months from Sunday.

Woodstock 50 has no state permit to operate; tickets have yet to go on sale; the event has no venue; and in the wake of two court decisions, an appeal related to $18.5 million in disputed festival funds remains pending.

Through it all, Woodstock 50 organizers, including Ulster County resident Michael Lang, co-founder and co-producer of the 1969 Woodstock festival, remain defiant and insist that the festival will be held.

Final payment missed

In the correspondence Dentsu included in its Wednesday letter, Watkins Glen advised Woodstock 50 that a final payment of $150,000 was due May 15; a 15-day grace period kicked in on May 17; and with no payment made, the agreement under which Watkins Glen International would host Woodstock 50 had been terminated.

Separately, on May 17, Woodstock 50 announced that it had secured new financing through the Oppenheimer & Co. brokerage and investment bank.

The $150,000 total is a fraction of the event's total budget. In Woodstock 50's original financial agreement with Dentsu, a budget of around $49 million was set for the festival. That subsequently increased by $20 million, according to court documents. As of mid-May, $32 million had been spent, including $23.5 million to pay all of the acts.

Watkins Glen sent the June 3 termination letter by certified mail and regular U.S. Mail, to Amplifi Live in Manhattan and to Woodstock 50 at a Beverly Hills, California, address.

On June 7, Watkins Glen sent the email to Woodstock 50 and Amplifi, saying it had been notified by the U.S. Post Office that the June 3 letter sent to Woodstock 50 in Beverly Hills "was rejected and is being returned to the WGI offices. Due to that rejection, please accept this email and the attached (original termination letter) as the official notice of breach of the Agreement."

The revelation included in the Dentsu letter to the court marks the latest twist in the Woodstock 50 saga.

In the letter, Dentsu wrote that it is now "impossible" for Woodstock 50 to stage the festival and as a result, its court proceedings against Dentsu are moot.

Dentsu is also asking the Appellate Court to release $18.5 million that Woodstock 50 contends was wrongfully removed from a festival account. A judge ordered that money to be held by a Dentsu attorney while the dispute was sorted out in court.

Dentsu also included with its letter to the court a separate email from Watkins Glen International that was sent June 10 and notified numerous parties of the site termination. These parties included the state Department of Transportation, state police, Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn and the Watkins Glen mayor's office.

Asked for comment on Thursday, a representative for Woodstock 50 referred the Journal to the statement it issued Monday, shortly after Watkins Glen International announced it would not host the festival.

“We confirm that we will not be moving forward with Watkins Glen as a venue for Woodstock 50," Woodstock 50 principal Gregory Peck said in the statement. "We are in discussions with another venue to host Woodstock 50 on Aug. 16-18 and look forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.”

Organizers have said they "are in discussions with another venue."

Troubled anniversary event

Lang and the Woodstock 50 team have been working to stage Woodstock 50 as a golden anniversary celebration of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, which was held Aug. 15-18, 1969. Jay-Z, the Lumineers, Miley Cyrus, Common and Santana are among dozens of acts scheduled to perform at Woodstock 50.

The letter that Dentsu sent to the court marks the latest battle between the company and Woodstock 50.

Dentsu on April 29 withdrew its support for Woodstock 50 and attempted to cancel the festival. After Dentsu withdrew, production company Superfly dropped out on May 1.

Woodstock 50 took Dentsu to state Supreme Court and Judge Barry Ostrager on May 15 ruled the financial company was under no obligation to continue with the anniversary concert or return $18.5 million it removed from a festival account when it left. But Ostrager also said Dentsu could not cancel the festival outright.

In the wake of Ostrager's ruling, state Supreme Court Judge Andrew Borrok rejected Woodstock 50's attempt to force Dentsu to back off from interfering with the festival. Woodstock 50 also appealed Ostrager's ruling that said Dentsu did not have to return the $18.5 million.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo