Saturday morning Chels and I set out for Newport, Rhode Island. It was an amazingly beautiful day and we were headed for The Newport Folk Festival. Our plan was to camp somewhere in the vicinity on Saturday, before heading to the festival for Sunday’s performances. This weekend though, the (few) plans that we had made changed and we ended up winging it in Providence, RI the night before the festival instead. There really aren’t any camping possibilities very close to Providence, at least this late in the game, so that was out. WaterFire was in though, and that more than made up for it. WaterFire, if you don’t know, is when the city of Providence lights one hundred bonfires along the three rivers downtown. It is a surprisingly cool and non-commercial event. The gathering of people is really the event. It is remarkably like sitting in front of a campfire, only in downtown Providence and with a few vendors. It was a very nice evening. The weather was surprisingly cool and the fires pretty damn romantic.
Our ultimate mission was the folk-festival, however, so we set out early the next morning for Newport. We did stop at The Beacon, a diner, for some breakfast along the way. This place was a surprising treat and a real blast from the past. It reminded me of a few places back home – Cheap and simple with nice folks running the show. By this time we were entering a nicer section of Rhode Island and after breakfast the ride became very scenic. Views of the ocean came into view as we got closer to Jamestown, and the Newport bridge appeared in the distance.
Once we saw the bridge we knew we were close, so we hit up the Newport Visitor’s Center for some info before deciding on a plan. We came up with the idea to park somewhere along Bellevue Ave. and ride our bikes into the festival in order to avoid traffic and generally just enjoy the day. The plan worked like a charm as the rides in and out were wonderful and the all traffic was avoided.
The festival itself was amazing and Fort Adams was just about the perfect place to see some music! The views were so great, from the bridge to the boats and the ocean as well as the actual fort itself, they were simply amazing. We got to the festival early, hula-hooped well before the crowds arrived, and generally just poked around. There were three stages, including one inside the fort this year. We made a plan to return to that stage later for our Ben Sollee fix, but first up was some dancing at both Sharon Jones and The Avett Brothers at the main stage….
By this time the festival crowd was swelling and a line forming to get into the ‘dance area’ that was up front. I know that this is a ‘folk’ festival but the dance area was way too small, though to their credit organizers say this is the first year that one was ever even provided. With acts like the Dap Kings on the schedule, it is good to see that somebody was planning ahead. We snuck in easily for Sharon Jones, but the crowd for the Avetts was huge. Luckily, we befriended somebody up front, Erin from Boston (shoutout!), and were able to grab a primo spot for the show. They, of course, rocked the festival and made our weekend and we reflected on that very fact on our way back towards the beer garden for some lunch.
At this point there were tons of boats in the harbor checking out the festival from the water as we hit up the beer line where there was almost a riot when we heard rumblings that the festival was running out of beer, fast. Luckily, for us, we made it to the front before the kegs ran dry and we enjoyed a couple cold beverages right on the seawall overlooking Narragansett Bay. We talked boats and ate while others around us did the same. It was a beautiful scene. Pete Seeger’s grandkid, Tao, provided the soundtrack. The sun provided the lighting. The temperature was perfect and Chelsey and I lost ourselves in conversation before realizing that we were missing music – Ben Sollee was playing on the other side of the festival.
Luckily the place was small and we made it for the end of his set. Sara Jarosz, Jim James and eventually The Preservation Hall Jazz Band were all on stage with him and Daniel Moore at some point during the part of the show that we caught! Pretty sweet. We danced for a bit inside the fort before heading to see Edward Sharpe, Elvis Perkins (a last-minute Justin Townes Earl replacement) and eventually Levon Helm. It was an exhausting and all-around sweaty afternoon to say the least.
All in all I enjoyed the festival immensely, although I wish that there was on-site camping available. The sheer amount of amazing music more than makes up for it, however (you can download most of the sets from this weekend here). Our entire weekend was filled with so much spontaneity and surprises that it seems to have flown by. Weekends like this help us forget our “9 to 5′s” and I am thankful to have such a great soundtrack to accompany my life.
Our ultimate mission was the folk-festival, however, so we set out early the next morning for Newport. We did stop at The Beacon, a diner, for some breakfast along the way. This place was a surprising treat and a real blast from the past. It reminded me of a few places back home – Cheap and simple with nice folks running the show. By this time we were entering a nicer section of Rhode Island and after breakfast the ride became very scenic. Views of the ocean came into view as we got closer to Jamestown, and the Newport bridge appeared in the distance.
Once we saw the bridge we knew we were close, so we hit up the Newport Visitor’s Center for some info before deciding on a plan. We came up with the idea to park somewhere along Bellevue Ave. and ride our bikes into the festival in order to avoid traffic and generally just enjoy the day. The plan worked like a charm as the rides in and out were wonderful and the all traffic was avoided.
The festival itself was amazing and Fort Adams was just about the perfect place to see some music! The views were so great, from the bridge to the boats and the ocean as well as the actual fort itself, they were simply amazing. We got to the festival early, hula-hooped well before the crowds arrived, and generally just poked around. There were three stages, including one inside the fort this year. We made a plan to return to that stage later for our Ben Sollee fix, but first up was some dancing at both Sharon Jones and The Avett Brothers at the main stage….
By this time the festival crowd was swelling and a line forming to get into the ‘dance area’ that was up front. I know that this is a ‘folk’ festival but the dance area was way too small, though to their credit organizers say this is the first year that one was ever even provided. With acts like the Dap Kings on the schedule, it is good to see that somebody was planning ahead. We snuck in easily for Sharon Jones, but the crowd for the Avetts was huge. Luckily, we befriended somebody up front, Erin from Boston (shoutout!), and were able to grab a primo spot for the show. They, of course, rocked the festival and made our weekend and we reflected on that very fact on our way back towards the beer garden for some lunch.
At this point there were tons of boats in the harbor checking out the festival from the water as we hit up the beer line where there was almost a riot when we heard rumblings that the festival was running out of beer, fast. Luckily, for us, we made it to the front before the kegs ran dry and we enjoyed a couple cold beverages right on the seawall overlooking Narragansett Bay. We talked boats and ate while others around us did the same. It was a beautiful scene. Pete Seeger’s grandkid, Tao, provided the soundtrack. The sun provided the lighting. The temperature was perfect and Chelsey and I lost ourselves in conversation before realizing that we were missing music – Ben Sollee was playing on the other side of the festival.
Luckily the place was small and we made it for the end of his set. Sara Jarosz, Jim James and eventually The Preservation Hall Jazz Band were all on stage with him and Daniel Moore at some point during the part of the show that we caught! Pretty sweet. We danced for a bit inside the fort before heading to see Edward Sharpe, Elvis Perkins (a last-minute Justin Townes Earl replacement) and eventually Levon Helm. It was an exhausting and all-around sweaty afternoon to say the least.
All in all I enjoyed the festival immensely, although I wish that there was on-site camping available. The sheer amount of amazing music more than makes up for it, however (you can download most of the sets from this weekend here). Our entire weekend was filled with so much spontaneity and surprises that it seems to have flown by. Weekends like this help us forget our “9 to 5′s” and I am thankful to have such a great soundtrack to accompany my life.
