The troubled Woodstock 50 anniversary music festival planned for August has been officially cancelled, with organisers blaming a series of “unforeseen setbacks”.

The three-day festival, meant to mark the 50th anniversary of the famed 1969 celebration of peace and music, was planned for August 16-18.

“We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating,” said Michael Lang, one of the original producers of the 1969 event.

The cancellation was widely expected after a troubled five months in which organisers were turned down at two proposed sites in upstate New York, lost funding and headliners including rapper Jay-Z and pop star Miley Cyrus pulled out.

Tickets never went on sale for the festival.

An announcement on Woodstock 50’s official website.

Organisers last week made a last-ditch attempt to put on a free, scaled-down event at an amphitheatre in Maryland, but several of the 80 or so acts began pulling out despite having already been paid.

Mr Lang said that the smaller event in Maryland would have been aimed at raising money for non-profits fighting climate change and organisations encouraging Americans to vote in the 2020 US general elections.

Woodstock 50 was first planned for the Watkins Glen motor racing venue in upstate New York, but the site pulled out in June. Organisers then tried in vain to seek permits in Vernon, New York.

-AAP