Mysteryland festival heads to original Woodstock site

The world’s longest-running electronic music festival, Mysteryland, is making its US debut in 2014 in Bethel Woods, the site of the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival. The move marks an historic moment for organizer ID&T, the brains behind high-profile festivals such as Sensation, Tomorrowland, TomorrowWorld and Q-dance.

This will be the first time a multi-day festival is hosted at the iconic Bethel Woods site in upstate New York. Forty-five years after the legendary Woodstock festival, the site will host Mysteryland during Memorial Day weekend from May 23 through May 26, 2014.

Promoters from all over the world have been trying for decades to convince the owners of the Bethel Woods site to host large-scale festivals in this special spot. After a year of talks, ID&T has finally won approval for the first US edition of Mysteryland, which is also held annually in the Netherlands and Chile. The 20th edition of Mysteryland in the Netherlands will be taking place on August 24 this year and all 60,000 tickets have once again sold out.

Quote Darlene Fedun, CEO of Bethel Woods Center for the Arts;
“We chose ID&T’s Mysteryland brand as the first modern era festival on the hallowed grounds for its belief in many of the same principles as our own organization. Creativity, unity, social responsibility and a focus on the “experience” of the guest. We are delighted to be working with an experienced festival creator and an organization of such high core values. We look forward to welcoming our Mysteryland guests to our wonderful bucolic and peaceful setting here at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival.  We can’t wait to greet them!”

Mysteryland’s multi-faceted approach has been a winning formula for no less than two decades. The festival offers its guests a creative journey, combining music with theatre, movies, interactive installation art, street performers and spectacular shows at bizarre decorated stages. To create this amazing spectacle, the festival organizers collaborate with a wide range of creative people from all over the world. As a nomad Mysteryland travels across the globe to find international artists willing to work with the festival and to make it an even richer experience.

The musical offerings are also all about discovery. In addition to legends from the international dance scene, the festival provides a stage for new and local talents: the next generation.

Mysteryland has been a leading pioneer on the dance festival scene in Europe and the US since 1993 and has inspired numerous other organizers and events. The famous Tomorrowland festival, also produced by ID&T, emerged from the key values of the Mysteryland festival. Furthermore Mysteryland has also been a major catalyst for the electronic music revolution since the early 1990s.

And Mysteryland continues to evolve to this day as an innovator on the festival scene. One example is the sustainability program ‘Celebrate Life’, which ID&T uses to draw attention to topical issues such as engagement, nature and talent by linking them to activities before, during and after the festival.

The first US edition of Mysteryland at this iconic location will be all about quality. The multi-day festival will be a very exclusive gathering, with only 20,000 tickets available.

Quote Duncan Stutterheim, CEO ID&T:
‘This location, the site of the mother of all festivals Woodstock 45 years ago, needs no further introduction. We are honored that Bethel Woods has chosen to host Mysteryland.
 
We see the similarities between the great demonstration of community and peace that was Woodstock, and the current culture of electronic music festivals. Differences between peoples simply disappear at our festivals. Everyone is equal on the dance floor and everyone can forget their everyday troubles and come together to enjoy the music and everything else that’s on offer. And these days, it is also about the growing awareness among our visitors of issues such as solidarity, sustainability and the enthusiasm of our multi-cultural audience to create a unique moment with the organizer and the artists. It’s not about big-name artists. It’s about everything and everyone coming together to inspire and get inspired. And people celebrating life together. It would be amazing if Mysteryland at Bethel Woods could unite some of that feeling from 45 years ago with the feeling of today.”

Anybody who would like to secure a ticket can sign up for the ticket sale at Mysteryland.com from today. The tickets will be sold in order of registration in about two months. More detailed information about the ticket sales will follow at a later stage.