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BETHEL WOODS: Woodstock festival museum to open

The Associated Press

May 11, 2008

A new museum is opening June 2 at the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert.

The Museum at Bethel Woods, about 90 minutes north of New York City, will offer exhibits, personal stories, multimedia experiences and programs about the 1960s, focusing on everything from music and fashion to political protest.

The original three-day festival epitomized the era's "sex, drugs and rock and roll" counterculture while drawing 400,000 people to hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, the Who and many other performers.

The museum will be open

10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Tickets, $13, are on sale now for timed admission on the hour. They can be purchased in advance from bethelwoodscenter .org, through Ticketmaster by phone, 631-888-9000; or in person at the box office.

The Museum at Bethel Woods is part of the larger Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, an outdoor performing arts center and complex with an eclectic concert series and other events. Performers scheduled for this summer include the "True Colors" show with Cyndi Lauper and The B-52s (June 14), Ringo Starr (June 21), the New York Philharmonic (June 28), Donna Summer (July 11), The Klezmatics (July 17) and many others.

Organizers recommend patrons reserve museum tickets in advance if they want to visit on days a concert is scheduled.