Woodstock

American  

[wood-stok] / ˈwʊdˌstɒk /

noun

1. a town in northeastern Illinois.

2. a rock music festival held in August of 1969 in Bethel, N.Y., a town near Woodstock, N.Y.

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Woodstock British  

/ ˈwʊdstɒk /

noun

1. a town in New York State, the site of a large rock festival in August 1969. Pop: 6253 (2003 est)

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Woodstock Cultural  

1. A village in New York state, where some 400,000 young people assembled in 1969 for a rock music festival.

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The size of the crowd and the prevalence of hippie dress and customs led to use of the term Woodstock nation to indicate the youth counterculture of the late 1960s.

The term Woodstock is now used loosely to mean a large, impromptu gathering.

Example Sentences

Sir Stephen Fry, Hay Festival president, described the event as a "carnival of ideas", while former US President Bill Clinton once called it the "Woodstock of the mind".

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

The Dead’s long list of landmark festivals included the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock in 1969 and the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in 1973.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 11, 2026

“Our Woodstock Organic Banana Water stands out for its great taste and natural hydration,” Bruemmer says, “delivering 765mg of electrolytes — similar to many sports drinks — without any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

EDF is on the hook to roll out an aquatic Woodstock requiring miles of cables linking 288 underwater speakers blaring sounds louder than a jumbo jet 24 hours a day for 60 years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

Some of her friends who dropped by to visit had just been to the Woodstock music festival a few weeks earlier.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge