Singing the weekend spirit

By CHRIS CONROY

BETHEL, NY — The annual Woodstock anniversary weekend rolls into town this year with free music and a reunion celebration.

Spirit of Bethel Records will hold free evening concerts on August 15 and 16 at Hector’s. According to Clint Partridge, the event organizer, the line up will feature a number of local and visiting performers.

“I’m so pleased that all of these folks are coming,” Partridge said as he ran down the list.

Starting at about 6:00 p.m. on August 15, the scheduled acts include the band Foor, making the trip from northern New Jersey, and local performers. August 16, the bigger day for the concert, will start around 4:00 p.m. It will feature Ashanan, a world-beat band from the New Paltz area; Chakulla, best known for his work with Sing Out for Food; E.C. Lorik and Gaia Wolf, frequent performers at Bethel events and members of the Spirit of Bethel crew. Partridge will take to the stage with his band Real Time. Counterfeit Cowboys, a band Partridge described as a Grateful Dead-style southern rock band, and Ronnie Ringquist will also be performing.

The concert will be free both nights, but anyone attending is encouraged to bring canned goods to donate to food pantries.

And a reunion, too

Down the road a bit, at Yasgur Road, an all-out Woodstock reunion will take place. With a cover charge of $25 per person, there are a few more rules than at some previous gatherings. Visitors are asked to refrain from bringing glass bottles, weapons of any sort and other things that may, according to an electronic posting, “detract from the beauty” of the gathering. There will be music, food and other activities available on-site.

During the weekend, the Woodstock Preservation Alliance (WPA), which will be headquartered at the Yasgur Road reunion site, will be available to comment about how the original Woodstock site should be preserved. The WPA, a grass-roots activist group, has been fighting to keep permanent structures from being built on the original Woodstock site. The top of the field is slated to become the center of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

The following weekend, August 23 to 24, the ice cream company, Ben and Jerry’s, will present their annual One World, One Heart concert at the Bethel Woods site. The two-day concert will feature a number of performers including local talent like John and Erin Slaver and internationally known performers like Third Eye Blind, Tracy Chapman and LeAnn Rimes.