Newport Folk 2019 - July 26-28

Ok, so...as mentioned up-thread, this is my first time at NFF. I’m staring down a hellish week of work before we get there, so, in the interest of helping me think about just about anything other than the task at hand, what should a newbie know heading into the festival? Any tips, do’s and don’ts, or expert opinions?

Also don't count out the Family Tent for a quick by stop. Definitely for the little folkers but we caught Christopher Paul Stelling in there a few years ago and it was one of the highlights of the weekend.

Now, I am not promoting breaking any Newport Rules in this post, but if you have to...

If you're planning on enjoying some green during the festival, please consider using a vape or edibles instead of flower. There are far more children and families in general at Newport than any other fest I've been to, and an understanding of a level of respect among attendees. Just be a good neighbor, ya know?

if you find yourself with nothing to do, go sit in the museum stage. you'll see some really cool stuff regardless of time of day, and it's a cool ass venue

1. Definitely be prepared for sun and heat. The fort stage in particular is pretty much devoid of shade save for the shade tent.

2. Matunuck Oyster Bar- all good, very good

3. If you drive, prepare for a potentially long wait to leave the parking lot depending on where you park.  I have waited for almost an hour in the past. A  couple of years ago, a guy with a boat on a trailer (from the marina) who was clearly in a hurry hit a car with his trailer and tried to blame me as I was the next closest vehicle. Thankfully many, many nice NFF attendees set the record straight. 

beaker - Do you remember the link you found re: potential spoiler? It looks like the text on the page has since been edited.

Yup. He’s right. Was changed a while back. Like eerily close to when I spilled it...

Oh I found it days after it was posted. I kept it quiet for a while. I mention it, it gets edited.

There was a A.P. Post about it from the beginning. That one got edited early on. I waited a while, then posted it here. The A.P. Is usually a pretty solid source.

He’s on tour with the Raconteurs in California all weekend.

Going to echo a few of the comments already made...

Biking in is by far the best way to get there.  It is beautiful and the ride home after the closing act is not only faster than the ferry or getting out of the parking lot, it is a fun communal aspect of the festival.  Everyone is let through in a pack and rides together.

Get there early... like before 9:30.  You don't get let in the gates until 10:00, but you hang out in a holding pen for a half hour.  It is joyful in its own right as you have nice 'get to know you' conversations with other attendees.  Also, Jay Sweet gives a little welcome speech before the gate opens which sets the tone.  And, of course, you have the opportunity to get good blanket placement at the fort or good seats at the stages or both.  

Don't jump from stage to stage too much.  This is really hard to do and I make the mistake of trying it every year.  There are so many great opportunities that you want to go from one half performance to another.  The problem is you always end up in the back of the performance and you never really fall into the emotion of a performance because you aren't attached. It is better to sit through an entire performance as well as even sitting through the break between performances at the Quad or Harbor in order to keep good seats than to run over to the fort and see 15 minutes of someone you like.  That being said, if you have someone you can work as a team with, one of you can go while the other holds the seats between sets.  (Don't try to hold seats once a set has started, it is bad form and eventually security will force you to give them up.)

Talk to strangers.  Part of the joy of Newport is meeting others between shows and hearing about their Newport experiences and their love of music.  Over time you see the same people again and again and it becomes part of the experience.

Depending on the sun and your personal ability to withstand the sun, plan to avoid the fort stage for some of the day.  We are relatively sun sensitive so we need to make sure we spend at least half the day at the Quad, Harbor or Museum stages.  Either way, wear sunscreen.

Go see the one of a kind shows with artists that play Newport regularly even if you haven't heard of them.  There is a Newport Folk Family of artists that aren't very well known outside the festival/folk scene, but are like legends within the festival.  Often these are both very talented musicians and incredibly sincere/good people.  And, they like to bring pour their hearts into the Newport weekend.  A sub-category of this set would be those artists who are debuting a new band.  Would include in this list:  Bonny Light Horseman, Our Native Daughters (Rhiannon Giddens), Cooks in the Kitchen, Highwomen (Brandi - granted she is plenty well known), and the two collaboration closing acts on Saturday and Sunday.  In fact, those closing collaboration acts are often the best sets of the entire weekend as they represent these performances which are one of a kind, really well curated and filled with surprises.

It's already been said, but go to an after show.  They are hard to get tickets for if you don't already have them, but you can wait at the door at Newport Blues for a Deer Tick show or possibly get into one of the Parlor shows.  These shows are similar to the collaboration performances but often a little more sloppy...  in a good way.  Magic can certainly happen at these shows and they are typically in the top highlights of the weekend for us.

Finally, be nice and don't talk during the shows.  Sometimes, particularly in the pit at the Fort stage, people can get just a little obnoxious and pushy.  Nothing like at other festivals, but it still happens.   Be nice.  Newport has a vibe that is very friendly and very respectful of the music.  It is part of what makes it special.

i'd like to think this isn't toooo much of the case but i keep remembering the girl in the pit during Mumford last year who was literally yelling at people for not knowing every single word and "appreciating" the moment, which is all too ironic.

love the bikers but i'll throw in a vote for the regular old water taxi.  this is my third year and save for one terrible night in '17 where wind slowed stuff, the process runs surprisingly smoothly (and the views aint bad).

The main issue I ran into renting a bike last year was returning it. We leave Newport on Sunday night, and the shop I rented from (Newport Bicycle) is only open 12-5 on Sunday. I ended up losing a bike lock in the deal, just locked the bike outside of the shop on Sunday AM and rode in a car for that one day.

It is an incredible time saver, though. Pretty easy ride, and most mornings I was doing it with an incredible hangover on like 5 hours of sleep. Still debating what to do this year, since we leave on Sunday again.

1) For real, imagine being so insensitive. Luckily the reason this shit seems so glaring is because the respect levels of most NFF attendees is so high, the bad behavior stands out more. 

2) Did HGM really play "Old MacDonald" at the Kid's Tent???