Weedstock

{{Short description|Musical festival supporting cannabis}}

File:Weedstock 1991 advertising.jpg

Weedstock was a cannabis rights music festival in the United States, originally held annually near Madison, Wisconsin from 1988 to 2001.{{Cite book |last1=Kuipers |first1=Dean |title=Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke, pp.124-125 |date=June 13, 2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1596911420 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/burningrainbowfa00kuip }}

The festival was initiated and organized by Yippie and cannabis activist Ben Masel, and was held for fourteen years despite repeated incidents of attempted police interference.{{cite journal | title=Judge blocks large Grassroots fest near Ogilvie | journal=Star Tribune | date=May 16, 1992 | author=Doyle, Pat | quote=Slattengren said the Minnesota event was intended primarily as a rock concert, not a political rally. The flier makes no explicit reference to politics. The judge described the scheduled gathering as a sequel to Weedstock and a similar Wisconsin festival called Hempstock, held on Labor Day. }}{{cite web | url=http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n2031/a02.html?3276 | title=Weedstock case goes up in smoke | work=Baraboo News Republic | date=December 5, 2001 | author=Bridgeford, Brian }}{{cite web | url=https://www.420magazine.com/forums/cannabis-warriors/142197-activist-ben-masel-never-shied-exercising-his-rights.html | title=Activist Ben Masel Never Shied From Exercising His Rights | work=The Capital Times | date=May 3, 2011 | author=Nichols, John}}

Masel was a well-known cannabis activist. He ran for political office many times, including against Wisconsin incumbent governors and U.S. senators. He died in 2011.{{Cite web |title=Marijuana activist Masel was Madison gadfly for 40 years |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/121366644.html |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=archive.jsonline.com}}