Sullivan County

Woodstock at 44: A Touching Tribute to Richie Havens

Published August 16, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Woodstock Memorial at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Richie Havens' name appears first. Photo by Clark Norton

Woodstock Memorial at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Photo by Clark Norton

This weekend marks the 44th anniversary of 1969’s Woodstock Festival, one of the iconic events of the 1960s, when hundreds of thousands of mostly then-young baby boomers poured onto Max Yasgur’s Farm near the small town of Bethel in the Sullivan County Catskills, New York.

(As I’ve written about previously in this blog, the festival was moved from Woodstock, NY, to Bethel, some 60 miles west, due to various snafus.)

And as always happens on this anniversary weekend, thousands of folks high on music, nostalgia and perhaps a few other things descend on Bethel to honor the memory of the festival, which marked the height of the peace and love era. Many camp out around Hector’s Inn in Bethel, where volunteers are dishing out free meals to the tie-dyed visitors, or at what’s now called… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Festivals, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer travel, baby boomer travelers, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, boomers, Catskills, Sullivan County, traveling baby boomers, Woodstock | Leave a comment

Cashing in (or Not) on Baby Boomer Woodstock Nostalgia

Published July 10, 2013 | By Clark Norton

The Woodstock Monument Memorializes the 1969 Festival. Photo courtesy of Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Quick quiz: Where was the 1969 Woodstock Festival held?

If you said, “uh, Woodstock?” you’d be…wrong.

Due to various snafus, Woodstock — one of the seminal events of the baby boomer era, which brought many of the top musical performers of the day onto a rain-drenched stage before hundreds of thousands of mud-soaked, tie-dyed and oddly mellow spectators — was actually held in Bethel, New York, some 60 miles away from its original venue.

Bethel happens to be just 13 miles from where I now live.

Recently I took a friend over there to see the memorial monument at the site — now located on the grounds of the beautiful Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which itself has hosted the likes of Bob Dylan, Elton John and the Dave Matthews Band to… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer marketing strategies, baby boomer travel, baby boomer travel trends, baby boomer travelers, baby boomers, baby boomers and tourism, Bethel, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, boomers, branding, Catskills, marketing baby boomer travel, selling travel to baby boomers, Sullivan County, travel, travel marketing, traveling baby boomers, Woodstock | Leave a comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.