Photo Credit: Dean Budnick

The 65th annual Newport Folk Festival has closed the books after three music-filled days of entertainment at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I. This year’s festival was a hotbed of surprises, with myriad acts filtering across five stages, marking their performances with sit-ins, covers, and other unprecedented arrivals. These unexpected moments informed this year’s event as a thrilling experience for spectators and artists alike. 

From the onset of Friday’s initial offerings, which included Fort Stage appearances from acts such as Allison Russell, Guster, Black Pumas, and Hozier to Bike Stage roll-ups, a la newcomer Alisa Amador and others, the first day brimmed with partnerships, combined moments, and specialty arrivals that have made this event a notorious spot for the unexpected. Read more below.

The palpable effect of Friday’s lineup ran over into Saturday’s headlining individual performances from Billy Bragg, Hermanos Gutierrez, Rhiannon Giddens, The War On Drugs, and the team of Gillan Welch and David Rawlings, in addition to less talked-about acts yet just as promising, Nashville’s own Bertha: Grateful Drag. 

Sunday represented the gathering’s finale, with Sierra Ferrell and Brittany Howard dominating the Fort Stage ahead of Conan O’Brien’s star-studded frame with real musicians; read more. Elsewhere, fellow festival participants such as De La Soul, Mighty Poplar, Taj Mahal, Cory Wong, and Friends, and others marked their frames with specialty moments. 

For more background on the Newport Folk Festival’s exemplary moments, click here. Dean Budnick has provided a photo gallery capturing highlights from all three days on the festival grounds at Fort Adams State Park. Scroll down to view.