1965 Newport Folk Festival
| Newport Folk Festival | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Venue | Fort Adams State Park |
| Location(s) | Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°28′41″N 71°20′08″W / 41.478056°N 71.335556°WCoordinates: 41°28′41″N 71°20′08″W / 41.478056°N 71.335556°W |
| Years active | 58 |
| Inaugurated | July 11, 1959 |
| Most recent | July 28, 2017 – July 30, 2017 |
| Next event | July 27, 2018 – July 29, 2018 |
| Website | |
| newportfolk |
|
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in July 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival. The festival is often considered one of the first modern music festivals in America and remains a focal point in the ever-expanding genre of "folk" music.
The Newport Folk Festival was founded in 1959 by George Wein, founder of the already-well-established Newport Jazz Festival, and owner of Storyville, a jazz club located in Boston, MA. In 1958, Wein became aware of the growing Folk Revival movement and began inviting folk artists such as Odetta to perform on Sunday afternoons at Storyville. The afternoon performances consistently sold out and Wein began to consider the possibility of a “folk afternoon embedded within the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival”. Wein envisioned the program to be “similar in scope and tone to the highly successful blues and gospel shows” that had taken place at the Jazz Festival in previous years. Wein asked Odetta, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers to perform on the afternoon in addition to the Kingston Trio. After conferring with the folk community, it grew abundantly clear to Wein that an afternoon program would not suffice and that there was demand for a full festival.
Aware of his own limitations in the folk scene, Wein asked Albert Grossman, then Odetta’s manager, to join him in planning and producing the festival. Grossman accepted and began working with Wein to book talent and organize the weekend.
The inaugural festival lineup included Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs, the Kingston Trio John Jacob Niles, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Odetta, The New Lost City Ramblers, and more. Perhaps the most notable performance was the surprise debut of the eighteen year old Joan Baez, who was brought on as a guest of Bob Gibson.
...
Wikipedia