The popular summer music event returns this weekend.
Even some lifelong jazz enthusiasts are surprised to learn that the line story of the Newport Jazz Festival is tucked away in Boston ’s medicine archive . In the ‘ 50s , George Wein — a local euphony producer , promoter , and possessor of the Storyville malarky nightspot — was approached by striking Newport residents who matte up the summer view there was a snooze and wanted Wein ’s supporter .
The Newton native come through large - time with the idea of creating a jazz festival — one of the first of its kind — so magnificent that it would attract the music genre ’s top talent for decades to come .
All these year later , theNewport Jazz Festivalis a pioneer and one of the res publica ’s most popular one-year euphony celebration . Taking post every August , it ’s be intimate for its Libra the Scales between the roots of nothingness and creative riffs of experiment from jazz - adjacent performers like Thundercat , popular for his collabs with artists such as Kendrick Lamar and his proliferation of acerb wind , which conjoin traditional idle words with EDM .
The Roots|Photo courtesy of Newport Jazz Festival
Happening August 4–6 , this yr ’s festivities are expected to draw in throngs of the great unwashed to Newport ’s Fort Adams State Park , so a little strategy can go a retentive mode in terms of get there — especially when it get to navigating the parking billet ( which is very circumscribed ) .
essentially , you should avoid driving to the park and alternatively take advantage of Newport ’s unique coastal substructure , including multiple ferries and a beautiful bikeable landscape .
To get there by ferry , Oldport Marine Servicesoffers $ 20 roundtrip ticket with pickups from Perrotti Park and Oldport Marine ’s sorrel on the city ’s famed America ’s Cup Avenue . If your favorite Newport hotel is sold out , theJamestown - Newport Ferryoffers express festival - specific ferrying military service from nearby Jamestown .
Where : 90 Fort Adams Drive , Newport , RI , 02840Get there : About 1 hour and 30 minutes to push back from Boston to Newport
Where to pick up a road trip snack near Newport, RI:
On your drive from Boston , you ’ll likely pass the 24 - hour donut havenMa ’s Donuts and Morein Middletown . Whether for a former - night snack or as a kickshaw for sitting through traffic , relish their sinker in offerings like Honey Dip and signature Ma ’s Donut , along with doughnut holes , pie , and more .
Where to stay in and around Newport, RI:
If funky artist Andy Warhol were around to make for concierge for you , he ’d suggestWayfinder Newport — an artsy retro - chic hotel with a love of all affair local . If booking in the 11th hour , you may also prove placement likeClub Wyndham Bay Voyage Inn , across the Newport Bridge , in Jamestown .
Where to eat in and around Newport, RI:
Breakfast is mandatory on festival Clarence Day . The festival gates clear at 10 am , and the music starts at 11 am , so you ’ve receive time to fuel up with a laidback dockside breakfast atBelle ’s Caféor a delicious breakfast sports stadium atDrift Café . Or — if you overslept — call in front to Drift Café to have everything quick before the five - minute walkway to Old Port Marine Services ' pickup emplacement at Perotti Park .
Although you ca n’t bring inebriant into the festival , you are allow a small cooler . So , if you desire to pack a field day , halt at one of Newport ’s many gourmet markets . snap up some cheese , bread , and caramelize onion plant jam fromNewport Wine Cellar & Gourmet . Or get pizza from Newport ’s Modern spot , Mother Pizzeria , where the Notorious F.I.G. sourdough pie is pay crusty raise seaside shanty vibes .
What to do in Newport, RI:
The area is cognize for its large concentration of gold - Age mansions . manoeuver to the Vanderbilt sept ’s Newport cottage , The Breakers(and by cottage , we mean a 48 - bedroom , 27 - open fireplace palace that sits on 13 oceanside acres ) . The Vanderbilts were one of the wealthiest household in the world , and Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his married woman Alice used their wealth to add the latest engineering science — like underground steam boiler — to their quaint seaboard abode — as well as all the Gilded Age wealth flex you could reckon like open - air courtyards , extraordinary roofing tile mosaics , and Baccarat crystal chandeliers .
Photo by Adam Kissick, courtesy of Newport Jazz Festival
