Newport Folk Festival 2025: Folk Around and Find Out

Jack Antonoff & Bleachers Present The Ally Coalition Talent Show. Photo by Adam Kissick / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival

If there was one thing I learned from attending the Newport Folk Festival back in 2019, it’s that you never, ever, under any circumstances, leave early.

I don’t care if it’s 100 degrees out and your perfect festival attire is covered in sweat stains, or that you’ve hit your max on social interactions with strangers. I also don’t care if you’ve already seen your favorite artist perform, or that there’s a chance you could beat the crowds and make it out of the Fort Adams parking lot in a timely matter. None of that matters.

Stick. It. Out.

And yet inexplicably, this year, I nearly didn’t heed my own advice. Not just once, but twice.

The City By The Sea had worked up a solid swelter by the time I made it down to Fort Adams this past Friday. Between taking the morning to recover from the previous night’s Best of Rhode Island party and hitting the horrendous-yet-expected I-95 traffic (I swear one of these years I will actually take advantage of the Providence to Newport ferry), I will admit I arrived a bit later than I would have normally liked — around noon as opposed to my usual 10/11 a.m. window. The one upside of arriving a bit later, however, was the security line was much shorter. It only took about ten minutes for me to get inside the Fort and be embraced by a cacophony of folksy tunes.

But then again, the early bird does get the worm: All of the prime grass patches had already been claimed by beach chairs and blankets. But no matter, I managed to set up camp in a less crowded section on the outskirts by the water. My view of the Fort stage may have been blocked by a vendor tent, but I had an uninterrupted sightline of the Newport Bridge and the sailboats gliding by and I could still perfectly hear the headliners croon away. Plus, I’m a wanderer anyway.

Big Freedia and chorus. Photo by Adam Kissick / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival

Alex G. Photo by Adam Kissick / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival

After skimming a few chapters of my book to the high-energy musical stylings of Big Freedia, I decided to journey my over to the Harbor stage. Alex G was already strumming away surrounded by a packed crowd, so I felt it was best to take it all in from the beer garden across the way (and okay fine, I wanted a beer). I made friends with a few fellow hopheads and we discussed who we were most excited to see that day. I bemoaned how gutted I was that the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs‘ and Bleachers‘ respective performances would overlap, meaning if I wanted to get a good vantage point of the latter I would most likely have to miss the former all together. (Yes, I am well aware of the “first world problem” of it all — but my new friends did feel my pain).

Next, I moseyed on over to the Bike Stage for a few soothing songs from Evangeline — my favorite new-to-me-find from the festival — before checking out a few of the vendors. As always, I was inspired by fellow festival-goers’s ‘fits and was oh-so-tempted to purchase a chic sun hat and a ’70s-style frock, but alas, I committed to saving my cash for a Bleachers band-T and some grub. I made my way back to my waterfront spot to reconvene before getting in line at one of the food trucks, but within twenty minutes or so, dark clouds a booming voice interrupted to announce that a severe thunderstorm was on the horizon and that all attendees were bing asked to shelter in place until further notice.

Chaos ensued. Nah, just kidding, everyone was rather calm as we packed. People who drove (like me) were asked to shack up in their cars while those who traveled via boat, ride share or ferry could ride out the storm in one of the fort’s indoor spaces. Fortunately, I made it back to the safety of my little Jetta just before the rain came pelting down. (Shout out to the frequent lightning bolts for lighting up the dark sky and ensuring I could ride out the wait with my book.) After an hour, though, I got restless. ‘Surely they’re going to cancel the rest of the day — it’s almost 5, the forecast says more rain is on the way, and it would take forever for them to set everything back up.’ The doubt won out, and I resigned myself to the two (yes, still two!) hour drive back to Providence. All I could think about was how I had jynxed myself by stressing over not being able to see two acts — now it was none for Gretchen Wieners.

But then fifteen minutes into my sad girl trip, my phone buzzed with a notification from the festival’s app: “We’re back on, folks!”

I’d like to say this is when I immediately turned around, but I didn’t. I kept going for a solid mile or two before the nagging, “Remember that time you missed Dolly Parton…” finally got to me. I also was absolutely starving by this time (pro-tip: pack snacks!) and knew Fancheezical would be waiting for me back at the Fort.

So, I banged a U-ey.

It seemed many attendees had followed through with my original line of thinking, however, as I not only found a better parking spot but also an open plot facing the main stage to re-set up my chair and blanket. Another perk: the storm lowered the temp considerably and made it much more tolerable. Thank goodness, because it also drove people in droves towards the beer gardens and food vendors, so I had to wait in line for a while to get my hands on that grilled cheese. I scarfed it down in record time while checking my festival app; even though we missed an hour or so, the schedule had not been updated. Bleachers should have been taking the Fort stage at any moment, but instead it was clear that Goose, the band’s lineup predecessor, was about to perform instead. Could it be I could still catch the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs over in the Quad?

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Photo by Nina Westervelt / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival

Turns out, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I could (sorry, not sorry). Lead singer Karen O. roused the still thick crowd with an exclamation of, “We weathered the f***ing storm!” before launching into some early career favorites, like “Our Time” from the band’s first EP. Though it hurt me to abandon ship before they played my (and everyone’s) favorite, “Maps,” I was worried about missing Bleachers, so with one last “whoop!” I walked back over to the Fort area. My paranoia paid off, and I got a prime standing spot just two rows back in the pit. Everyone around me murmured speculations about who the band’s promised “Ally Coalition Talent Show” surprise guests could be. One girl in front of me was convinced Taylor Swift was on the list due to her bestie status with Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff and her nearby Westerly mansion address. Another behind me swore she had seen the setlist and rattled off a bunch of names, most of which were scheduled to play at some point during the weekend and made sense, but when I heard Paramore’s Hayley Williams, I was skeptical.

Spoiler alert: the chatty stranger had definitely seen the setlist.

When Antonoff finally came out, we all went wild. He told us he was grateful that they were able to play at all given the storm and delay, then whipped out a few fan favorite ear-worms like “Rollercoaster.” He then introduced guest after guest for a number of collaborations, including Waxahatchee, Dan and Peggy Reeder, Maren Morris, Rufus Wainwright (seeing him perform Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet” as the sun set was a major highlight) and Jeff Tweedy. By that last one I was convinced Antonoff had unveiled all of the biggest surprises of the night. It had been an even longer day than expected, I had the pleasure of seeing everyone I had wanted to see and it was fast approaching 8 p.m. — it was probably safe to head out to beat the mass exodus, right? 

Rufus Wainwright. Photo by Adam Kissick / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival

Wrong. Thankfully I took my time packing up my stuff — by the time I was finally approaching the exit, I heard Antonoff announce his last guest: Hayley freakin’ Williams. A.k.a. the lead singer of my favorite band since I was fifteen.

I sprinted back to the stage.

I didn’t get my as good a vantage point as I had enjoyed before, but it was pretty darn close. Williams sang a new single (one of seventeen she dropped this past weekend) and duetted with Antonoff on “I’ll Stop the World and Melt with You.” It was everything I could have wanted and more. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I nearly cried. Seeing her perform live was worth every single second of my very long ride home.

Always stay till the end of the festival, folks.

Hayley Williams and Bleachers. Photo by Adam Kissick / courtesy of the Newport Folk Festival