  The high-synchrotron-peaked blazar 1ES 1959+650 was among the first
extragalactic sources detected in the very high energy gamma ray band (VHE, E >
100 GeV). In October 2015, the source entered an extended period of activity
that continued through July 2016, during which several strong VHE flares were
observed. This flaring activity in the TeV band was accompanied by a strong
increase in the optical, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray flux of the source,
surpassing its brightest recorded flux states. The VERITAS telescope array
performed observations of 1ES 1959+650 between October 2015 and June 2016, and
detected the source multiple times at a flux higher than the Crab nebula flux
in the TeV band, representing the brightest flares of this object since 2002.
We here present results from the analysis of 32 hours of VERITAS observations
obtained during this period and as well as a contemporaneous multi-wavelength
observations in the optical, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray bands.
