Announced November 20, 2018. The most recent information will appear after the large illustration and the introductory description from the USPS. This stamp issuance celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in the small farming community of Bethel, New York, in August 1969. It was the most famous rock fair in history and an expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. The stamp art, designed by art director Antonio Alcalá¡, features the image of the dove from graphic artist Arnold Skolnick’s promotional 1969 poster for the fair along with some of the poster’s words: “3 Days of Peace and Music.” In the stamp art the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA, and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.

The stamp will be issued August 8th in New York City. See the July 8th entry below.

The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5409.

The Woodstock festival was held August 15-18, 1969, in Bethel, New York, after the town of Woodstock, NY, more than 40 miles away, refused permission. It will be interesting to see if the USPS issues the stamp in Bethel or Woodstock. Or perhaps the stamp will be issued somewhere else entirely, such as the site of a 2019 rock festival (Lollapalooza in Chicago, August 1-4?).

Updated September 9th:
A 50th anniversary reunion festival is planned for August 15-18, 2019, in Watkins Glen, NY (about 115 miles WNW or 150 miles driving).

Updated June 11th:
The reunion festival is now in doubt. Watkins Glenn International has terminated its agreement to host the 50th anniversary event. However, a principal organizer says there are talks with another venue. Financial backers pulled out earlier this year.

Updated July 4th:
The USPS now says this stamp will be issued “in August,” but does not have a date. The current first-day city is New York.

From the Postal Bulletin:

In August 2019, in New York, NY, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Woodstock stamp (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps (Item 479400). The stamp will go on sale nationwide August 2019, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue, which will be announced in a future Postal Bulletin.

This stamp celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in the small farming community of Bethel, New York, in August 1969. It was the most famous rock festival in history and an expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. The stamp art, designed by art director Antonio Alcalá, features the image of the dove from graphic artist Arnold Skolnick‘s promotional 1969 poster for the concert along with some of the poster‘s words: “3 Days of Peace and Music.” In the stamp art, the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA, and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.

Availability to Post Offices: Item 479400, Woodstock (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Commemorative Pane of 20 Stamps: Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store® website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Woodstock Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. The postmark date will be announced in a future Postal Bulletin.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Woodstock Stamp
Item Number: 479400
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: August 2019, New York, NY 10199
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Typographer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Flexo, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Gallus RCS
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 30,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tagged
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in/21.336 x 36.068 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in/24.892 x 39.624 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.92 x 7.5 in/150.368 x 190.5 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 11.84 x 22.5 in/300.736 x 571.5 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by three (3) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: WOODSTOCK 50TH ANNIVERSARY • Plate numbers in bottom 2 corners
Back: ©2018 USPS • USPS Logo • Two barcodes (479400) • Plate position diagram • Promotional text

Updated July 8th:
[ceremony advisory]
Woodstock Forever Stamps
Commemorating 50th Anniversary of Woodstock Music and Art Fair

What: The U.S. Postal Service is issuing Woodstock Forever stamps in observance of the 50th anniversary of the most famous rock festival in history.

News of the stamp is being shared on social media using the hashtags #WoodstockStamps and #PeaceForeverStamps.

When: Thursday, Aug. 8 at 11 a.m. EDT

Where:
“Play it Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll”
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10028

Background: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in the small farming community of Bethel, NY, in August 1969. Approximately 500,000 members of the “Woodstock Generation,” a term later used in reference to young people of the time, convened to promote peace and love through music.

Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp artwork which features an image of a dove along with the words “3 Days of Peace and Music,” evocative of the original 1969 promotional poster for the festival. In the stamp art, the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.

The stamps will be available for purchase Aug. 8. Pre-orders for the Woodstock Forever stamps can be reserved through The Postal Store at usps.com/shop.  [but not as of July 8th -VSC]

Updated July 12th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.93″x1.43″The B&W pictorial measures 2.96″x1.37″The “special” postmark, for local offices to use, measures 2.814″x1.37″