 The term, which derives from the name of a beet soup popular with people of Eastern European origin, can also refer to the Catskill region itself.In August, 1969, the Catskills were the site of a music and art festival in the town of Bethel, which had originally been planned for Woodstock, New York.Thirty-three of the best-known musicians of the era appeared during a sometimes rainy weekend in front of nearly half a million concertgoers.