BRIEFING

Museum opening at the site of Woodstock concert

BETHEL, N.Y. (AP) — 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 ’n’ roll” counterculture while drawing 400,000 people to hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, the Who and many other performers.

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, Ringo Starr, the New York Philharmonic, Donna Summer, The Klezmatics, the Boston Pops and many others.

Tickets for the museum are on sale now at www.BethelWoodsCenter.org or Ticketmaster, (845) 454-3388.

Cavett to judge comedian contest in Nebraska

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Comedian Robert Klein and talk-show host Dick Cavett will be among those at a comedy festival June 17-22 in Norfolk, Neb.

The event, the first Great American Comedy festival at the Johnny Carson Theater, was created in honor of the late Carson, who spent much of his child-hood in Norfolk. It will start with a comedy showcase featuring Klein. The festival also includes workshops, a youth comedy camp and a competition.

Cavett, who was born in Gibbon and raised in Lincoln, will serve as a judge for the contest, according to KNEN-FM radio. He is best known as host of “The Dick Cavett Show,” which aired on ABC from 1969 through 1974.

Details at www.greatamericancomedyfestival.com.

Cheyenne Frontier Days: Rodeos, music, history

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Cheyenne Frontier Days takes place July 18-27 with a mix of rodeos, musical entertainment, culture and history, tours and food.

Attractions include the Old West Museum; an Indian Village where you can see traditional costumes, dancing, storytelling and crafts; a Western Art Show and Sale; a carnival midway with games and rides; and parades, pancake breakfasts and a “Chuckwagon Cookoff.” Details at www.cfdrodeo.com.

European Travel Commission sponsors video contest

NEW YORK (AP) — The European Travel Commission is inviting travelers to unleash their inner Fassbinder, Fellini and Truffaut.

The ETC is sponsoring a “You and Europe” contest for anyone who comes back from Europe with video footage and a story to tell.

Upload your film at www.visiteurope.com, where it will be seen by the public and by the contest’s judges.

Videos can be submitted through Sept. 30, after which the judges will pick one filmmaker to win a trip to Europe for two.

Yankee magazine picks 5 best New England diners

DUBLIN, N.H. (AP) — Yankee magazine’s 2008 Special Travel Guide hits newsstands May 6 with all kinds of recommendations for enjoying summer travel in New England, from places in Connecticut for art-lovers, to moose-watching in Maine, to 244 “Editor’s Choice” selections, broken down by state and region.

The issue also includes a feature on New England’s five best diners, com-piled by Richard Gutman, curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., and author of three books on the history of diners.

The list includes the Modern Diner at 364 East Ave., Pawtucket, R.I., (401) 726-8390, housed in a 1941 stainless steel railcar-style building. It was the first diner named to the National Register of Historic Places. Weekend brunch specials include lobster Benedict.

The other four diners on Yankee’s list are Kelly’s Diner, 674 Broadway, Somerville, Mass., (617) 623-8102; Capitol Diner, 431 Union St., Lynn, Mass., (781) 595-9314; Libby’s Blue Line Diner, Route 7, Colchester, Vt., (802) 655-0343; A1 Diner, 3 Bridge St., Gardiner, Maine, www.a1diner.com, (207) 582-4804.

For more classic New England diners from Gutman, visit http://YankeeMagazine.com/10Things.

Elkfest in Wyoming

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — One of the world’s largest elk herds lives at the National Elk Refuge, and nearby Jackson is celebrating the animals with a weekend Elkfest, May 17-18. The annual festival includes an antler auction to benefit the refuge and local Boy Scout troops. The antlers are shed by elk wintering at the refuge. Artisans transform the antlers into everything from chandeliers to furniture; others use them as wall decorations. Last year’s event sold 5,379 pounds of antlers for a total of $59,748.

There also will be a chili cookoff, music, a kids’ activity corner and a crafts sale. Visit http://elkfest.org.

DeNiro, Estefan open lodges

NEW YORK (AP) — A new hotel in New York and a new resort in Florida have big celebrity names behind them.

In the Tribeca section of Manhattan, the Greenwich Hotel — owned by actor-director Robert DeNiro and three partners — opened April 1 at 377 Greenwich St. The eight-story hotel has 88 rooms, with no two alike; 13 suites; a spa, restaurant and 2,500-square-foot penthouse. DeNiro also is part owner of Japanese restaurant Nobu.

Singer Gloria Estefan is opening the Costa d’Este Beach Resort in June in Vero Beach, Fla., a little over an hour north of Palm Beach on Florida’s east coast.

The oceanside resort has 94 rooms, spa and restaurant. Estefan and her husband, Emilio, own four other restaurants, including Larios and Oriente in South Beach, and the Cardozo Hotel in Miami Beach.