Every year since 1959, the Newport Folk Festival has been a wonderful two day music event and epicenter for the folk music scene. It’s brought a number of famous musicians into the spotlight and fan’s scrapbook pages before they were popular, and continues to be a showcase for talent both old and new. For these reasons, it’s considered a great musical destination during the summer. If you’re considering folk festivals this summer, here’s a few tips I’ve picked up from the Newport event.
When arranging for travel to and from the event, weight the options of Newport’s accommodations very carefully. Parking is available at Fort Adams State Park during the festival, but campgrounds are not offered during the run of this festival. However, other nearby campsites are open, like Melville Ponds, which is held in high regard.
The Newport festival encourages people to be environmentally responsible, and so emphasizes that multiple bicycle parking areas are near the festival entrance, as well as buses and water shuttles. Regular car parking passes are also for sale, but will cost more if purchased at the event itself, rather than ahead of time.
The restricted items for this festival have much in common with those of other large multi-day, multi-stage music events. Glass, alcohol, animals, and recording equipment are all banned from the festival area, and these limits are strictly enforced, so please follow them if you want to be able to stay throughout the day. One restricted item that is treated a little differently is the beach umbrella, but this is only if a medical exception is present.
As for recommended items, definitely bring something to protect you from the sun. Sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat can make life a lot less uncomfortable at the festival. In the middle of the summer, the sun can cause a lot of skin damage. On that note, have a good supply of water with you. Bring some money for the many good food vendors. Clothing should probably be loose, and footwear should be something versatile, like leather brown boots, and will hold up under whatever weather conditions arise.
Try and make time for the merchants other vendors at this festival; they’ve always got some very interesting stuff. One guitar sponsor’I think it was for a takamine acoustic guitar, but I could be wrong’had a really cool songwriting contest and guitar giveaway.
Whether you decide to go to both days of this fine festival, or just one, have fun and be safe at Newport!
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