Phish [ tickets ] will end 1999 with a two-day festival on the grounds of the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida, it was announced Thursday. The booking of the festival marks the end of months of thwarted plans and speculation as the Vermont-based band mulled several sites.

According to a statement issued by the band, the festival site will feature free potable water, low-priced foods and portable toilets, noteworthy in contrast to widely reported unsanitary conditions and expensive food and water at July's troubled Woodstock event.

Phish is set to perform on both days, including an afternoon and two evening sets on the 30th and an all-night set intended to begin just before midnight on the 31st and run until sunrise (about 7 a.m.) of New Year's Day.

The band had originally arranged for the event to take place in Hawaii, but lengthy negotiations with concert promoter Bill Graham Presents began to affect the window of availability for fans to book flights to the show, prompting the band to pull out of the booking and look for a mainland location.

In June, the band won county approval to host the event on ranch land in rural Okeechobee County in central Florida. Despite widespread public and unanimous county commission support for the festival, the county's sheriff ultimately blocked the issuance of permits for the event, citing fears of, among other things, terrorist activities and violation of the county's zero-tolerance drug policy.

In light of recent outbursts of violence and destruction at both Woodstock and the tour-ending Dave Matthews Band shows in Hartford, Conn. last weekend, the Phish festival will likely come under some scrutiny. The band, however, has a history of producing massive music and lifestyle gatherings that play out smoothly and peacefully.

Tickets for the event, bucking a trend in New Year's event pricing, are set at $150, including camping. Public sales will begin September 25th, though the band is offering advance mail order sales through their web site.

Phish will begin the fall leg of their North American tour on September 9th, winding up on October 10th. A brief December leg of dates will lead up to the New Year's event.