Newport Folk Festival Unveils Weekend Of Ticketed Webcast Events, Original Film

Mavis Staples, Deer Tick, Roger Waters & Lucius, Sharon Van Etten, Leon Bridges, Jim James, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Tom Morello, Trombone Shorty, Ben Harper and many more are all slated to play Newport Folk Festival’s Folk On Revival Weekend, a series of ticketed webcast events and a free film premiere being put on in lieu of the beloved, in-person event.

The Folk On Revival Weekend is taking place from July 31 to Aug. 2. Specifically ticketed events are: “Mavis 80” – a celebration of Mavis Staples birthday celebration, recorded on May 22 – on July 31; and Lagunitas Presents: Deer Tick & Friends on Aug. 1. Tickets to those shows are on sale now. The “Our Voices Together” film will be made available for free on YouTube on Aug. 2. 

The event also includes radio broadcasts from over 60 years of archived sets to be broadcast over WFUV (NYC), WMVY (Martha’s Vineyard) and WEXT (Albany). 

“In the history of this festival, there has never been a time like we’re in now,” the festival’s executive producer Jay Sweet said in a statement. “A global pandemic shuttering our plans to congregate before quickly shifting into the biggest civil rights movement in over 50 years. Many of our lives have drastically changed, financially, emotionally, and/or irrevocably. It has been painful for many of us, on the front lines fighting the pandemic, on the front lines fighting social injustice and especially for those losing loved ones along the way. While it was an emotional gut punch to cancel the festival in a year where it is so clearly needed, we felt it was imperative to our community to do something. Music has always brought our family together, even when we’re divided. The Newport stage has always been a sanctuary for artists to speak their minds on the times in front of us, not with merely one voice alone, but many in unison. This year’s Newport is no exception, collectively representing what it feels like to be human in today’s world by amplifying our convictions. For 2020 these voices will be our megaphone, these events our stage.”

Newport Folk and Jazz festivals both announced their cancellation in April, just weeks after revealing the Newport Festivals Foundation’s Musician Relief Fund was providing micro and full grants to musicians experiencing lost income. 

Newport Folk Festival celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019 and this year’s event was scheduled to include Brittany Howard, Andrew Bird, Phoebe Bridgers, Nathaniel Rateliff, Big Thief, Yola, and more. Newport Jazz Festival was to feature Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Khruangbin, Jimmy cliff and more.