Woodstock

The first free rock festival, held near Bethel, New York, over three days in August 1969. It was attended by 400,000 people, and performers included the Band, Country Joe and the Fish, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and the Who. The festival was a landmark in the youth culture of the 1960s (see hippie) and was recorded in the film Woodstock (1970).

Woodstock

Market town in Oxfordshire, England, on the River Glyme, 13 km/8 mi northwest of Oxford; population (2001) 2,900. Gloves are made here. In the Middle Ages Woodstock was the site of a royal palace. Blenheim Palace, built 1705–22, is nearby. The palace was designed by John Vanbrugh, and is regarded as one of the finest examples of baroque architecture in the UK.

After the defeat of the French forces of Louis XIV at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, land was granted to the commander of the British army, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, and Blenheim Palace was built.

Edward the Black Prince, the eldest son of Edward III, was born here in 1330.

Woodstock

Town in Windham County, northeast Connecticut; population (1990) 6,000. It is situated on the Massachusetts state line, 15 km/9 mi south-southeast of Southbridge, Massachusetts. Settled in the 1680s, it has been primarily agricultural, with some textile manufacturing.

Woodstock

Town and administrative headquarters of McHenry County, northeast Illinois; population (1990) 14,400. It is located 53 km/33 mi east of Rockford and 80 km/50 mi northwest of Chicago. A commercial and industrial centre, it is in a dairy and farming region. Typewriters, beds, and metal products are manufactured in the town. Founded in 1844, Woodstock has recently become an outer suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area.

Woodstock

Town and administrative headquarters of Carleton County, west New Brunswick, Canada; population (1991) 4,600. It is situated on the St John River, 74 km/46 mi west-northwest of Fredericton, and 21 km/13 mi east of Houlton, Maine. It is a market town in an area producing dairy goods, apples and other fruit, lumber, and furniture.

Woodstock

Town in Ulster County, southeast New York; population (1990) 6,300. It is situated in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, 16 km/10 mi northwest of Kingston. It has been an artists' colony and exurb since the early 20th century, and has many galleries and boutiques. It is best known for the July 1969 Woodstock rock concert, planned for the town, which actually took place 72 km/45 mi to the southwest, at Bethel.

Woodstock

Town and administrative headquarters of Oxford County, south Ontario, Canada; population (1991) 30,100. It is situated on the Thames River, 43 km/27 mi east-northeast of London. Founded in 1834, in a dairying and livestock raising region, it has since the 1850s, when the railway arrived, had diverse industries. Its manufactures include furniture, wood and wire products, textiles, pianos, organs, stoves, auto parts, and garden tools.

Woodstock

Town in Windsor County, east-central Vermont; population (1990) 3,200. It is situated on the Ottauquechee River, 37 km/23 mi east of Rutland, in a dairy area. The town is a year-round resort and sports centre, with ski facilities. The Stephen Daye Press and a medical college were both here at one time. The town is noted for its period architecture.

Woodstock

Town and administrative headquarters of Shenandoah County, northwest Virginia; population (1990) 3,200. It is located 48 km/30 mi southwest of Winchester, near the north fork of the Shenandoah River. A trade centre for an agricultural and lumbering region, it also has some manufacturing. Settled in the 1750s by Germans from Pennsylvania, it was at first called Müllerstadt. Massanutten Mountain stands above the town.