Newport Folk Festival

66 years after Newport Folk Festival’s debut, it remains one of the world’s most revered music festivals for its peerless history of advancing American music and its enduring role as a proving ground for today’s musical innovators. With this sustained acclaim, the festival has also earned a reputation for being packed with surprises every year as artists go all-out to make their mark on one of the world’s most important stages. Newport Folk Festival’s 2025 edition was no exception; after a thrilling Friday program that included collaborations between Kevin Morby with Waxahatchee, Goose with Kenny Loggins and Bleachers with a dream team including Jeff Tweedy, Weyes Blood and Rufus Wainwright, Saturday and Sunday brought a litany of further curveballs that will sustain fans until the festival’s return in 2026.

Rising folk singer-songwriter Jesse Welles proved to be one of Newport’s busiest performers over the weekend as he supported sets from several of his peers and welcomed some new friends for his own Saturday billing on the Fort Stage. Between a litany of topical protest songs like “United Health,” “Red,” “Fear is the Mind Killer” and the set-closing “War Isn’t Murder,” Welles tapped Tommy Prine for a cover of John Prine’s classic “Angel from Montgomery” and Nathaniel Rateliff and Lukas Nelson for his own 2024 viral hit “This Can’t Be Right.” Later on the main stage, Waxahatchee–who sat in with Kevin Morby and Jack Antonoff on Friday–supercharged her set with support from recurring collaborator MJ Lenderman on “Right Back to It,” “Burns Out at Midnight,” “Tigers Blood” and “Much Ado About Nothing.” 

Alt-pop star Remi Wolf’s penultimate set on the Quad Stage was a highly anticipated “& Friends” performance, continuing Newport Folk’s custom of guest-packed revues that often arrive as the festival’s brightest highlights. In the same style as her “Insanely Fire 1970s Pool Party Superjam” at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, Wolf opened up her Rolodex again on Saturday night to invite a total of seven guests for an eclectic mix of covers. Saya Grey bolstered Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Tweedy joined for Wilco’s “Either Way,” slimdan added to Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer,” Adam Melchor covered Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” Marren Morris sang “Angel from Montgomery,” John C. Reilly–a.k.a. Mr. Romantic–joined a duet of Grover Washington, Jr.’s “Just the Two of Us” and folk trio Tiny Habits backed Wolf’s original “Street You Live On,” a cover of “Harvest Moon” also featuring Welles and a full ensemble finale of The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.”

The third day of Newport Folk Festival was easily the heaviest on unexpected twists. Beyond a litany of sit-ins, The National’s Matt Berninger appeared on the new pedal-powered Bike Stage for an intimate surprise set, including songs from his new solo album Get Sunk and a treatment of his band’s 2023 hit “The Alcott.”  Meanwhile, on the Fort Stage, Mary Chapin Carpenter returned to Newport for the first time since 2000 with support from Josh Kaufman, who produced her 2025 album Personal History, on “Saving Things” and “Bitter Ender.” Shortly afterwards, Margo Price stepped onto Fort Stage and hosted another appearance from Welles on “Don’t Wake Me Up.”

As the evening rolled in, indie-pop staples Lucius arrived on the Harbor Stage for a set anchored in songs from their 2025 self-titled album and Wildewoman, their breakthrough sophomore album. The leading vocal duo of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig welcomed sit-ins from S.G. Goodman on “Impressions” and Mavis Staples–the queen of Newport Folk herself–on “Go Home,” then closed with a pair of covers, tapping Tweedy for Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” and and Newport Folk Stweardship Program appointee Rateliff for R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts.” Mt. Joy followed on the Fort Stage, where they hosted Jensen McRae on “In the Middle,” Maren Morris on “Highway Queen” and Rateliff on “Wild and Rotten.”

The final act of Newport Folk Festival 2025 was “Songs for the People,” a star-studded revue show of protest songs led by celebrated producer and Bonny Light Horseman member Kaufman. Through 15 classic songs associated with the social change at the heart of Newport Folk’s mission, Kaufman collected more than 20 celebrated performers who drifted into and out of the spotlight, including Staples, Tweedy, Rateliff, Berninger, Price, Lucius, Carpenter, Nelson, Morris, Welles, Reilly, Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Swell Season, Logan Ledger, Sarah Jarosz, Ronboy, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Rick Mitarotonda. After rousing numbers like Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah,” “Eyes of the World,” “Revolution” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” the whole company returned for a cover of The Who’s “My Generation” and the traditional Newport Folk closer of “Goodnight, Irene.”

Newport Folk Festival’s sister event and the grandfather of all American music festivals, Newport Jazz Festival, will return to Newport, R.I.’s Fort Adams State Park this weekend. Learn more about both events and the nonprofit organization that brings them to life each year at newportfestivals.org.

Get an inside look at Friday’s festivities here.