Hudson Valley Arts

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a $100 million outdoor performing arts center and museum located approximately 90 minutes from New York City at the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY. The 15,000 seat outdoor performing arts venue and The Museum at Bethel Woods are set within nearly 2,000 bucolic acres. The Pavilion Stage covers 4,500 seats with another 10,500 on a natural sloping lawn while offering unique backdrops including the original festival site and the majesty of the surrounding Sullivan County countryside. Other venues at the center include a 1,000-seat outdoor Terrace Stage, the Museum Events Gallery – an intimate indoor space for performance, lectures and special events and the original Woodstock concert site, which holds a permit for 30,000 concertgoers to attend major musical events. The 2008 season marked the 10th
anniversary of the Harvest Festival, an annual event celebrating the bounty, talent, and beauty of Sullivan County and the surrounding area.
The Museum at Bethel Woods explores the unique experience of the Woodstock festival, its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, and the legacies of the Sixties and Woodstock today. Through personal stories and profiles, immersive multi-media exhibit displays and experiences, engaging programs, and
educational events, The Museum will encourage inter-generational dialogue about important ideas and issues relevant to today. It will also help preserve the historic site on which the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place. The Museum at Bethel Woods is an impressive facility with over 10,000 square feet of permanent exhibit space, a special exhibit gallery, Event Gallery and museum retail store.
The purpose of the arts center is to improve the quality of life in Sullivan County and the surrounding region by promoting economic development and interest in our region and its residents through arts, education, and culture at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts