The Newport Jazz Festival

Newport Jazz Festival
McCoy Tyner and Ravi Coltrane performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 13, 2005.
Genre	Jazz initially, later years added rock music and pop music
Dates	August
Location(s)	Newport, Rhode Island
Years active	1954-Present
Founded by	George Wein, Elaine Lorillard
Website
Official website

The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the event to help them bring jazz to the resort town.

Most of the early festivals were broadcast on Voice of America radio, and many performances were recorded and have been issued by various record labels.

In 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival moved to New York City. In 1981, it became a two-site festival when it returned to Newport while continuing in New York. From 1984 to 2008, the festival was known as the JVC Jazz Festival; however, during the economic downturn of 2009, JVC ceased its support of the festival and was replaced by CareFusion. As of 2012, the festival is sponsored by Natixis Global Asset Management .

The festival is hosted in Newport at Fort Adams State Park. It is often held in the same month as its sister festival, the Newport Folk Festival.

In 1954, the first Newport Jazz Festival (billed as the "First Annual American Jazz Festival") was held at Newport Casino, in the Bellevue Avenue Historic District of Newport, Rhode Island. It incorporated academic panel discussions and featured live musical performances.

The live performances were set outdoors, on a lawn. These performances were given by a number of notable jazz musicians, including Billie Holiday, and were emceed by Stan Kenton.

The festival was hailed by major magazines and newspapers, and some 13,000 people attended between the two days. In general, the festival was regarded as a major success.