Winstock Country Music Festival - Country Music Festival

The Winstock Country Music Festival is a two-day country music festival that is held in Winsted, MN that usually draws 12,000-15,000 people each day. It is usually held on the second weekend in June and is the first country music festival of the summer in the upper Midwest.

History

The Winstock Country Music Festival was started in 1994 by a group of Holy Trinity School and Parish boosters. It was to be a fundraiser for the school and parish. The first Winstock was held at the Winsted Municipal Airport and one of the headliners was local country star Paulette Carlson.

Since then, Winstock has grown and moved across the road to land the festival now owns. Winstock added a second stage in 2005, called the emerging artist stage, and has featured some of the rising country talent such as Keith Anderson, Little Big Town, and Sugarland. Winstock often features some of country music's biggest talent such as Montgomery Gentry and Reba McEntire in 2008 and has since been headlined by stars such as Martina McBride, Blake Shelton and Gary Allan.