It’s not always been glorious – Bob Dylan got booed off a stage; classical musicians have lost their instruments to inclement weather – but there’s no denying the rich musical tradition that Newport has built in the past five decades.
What started as one festival in the 1950s has grown into four major ones spanning genres and stretching from the end of June to the middle of August.
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Evan Smith, president of the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the festivals have worked to attract tourists throughout the years and – along with events such as the America’s Cup races – have given Newport an identity that has inspired visitors to come to Aquidneck Island.
“If you asked 50 people why Newport is special to them, you may get 50 different answers,” Smith said. “But music is one of the hallmarks of the city.”
Newport’s jazz and folk festivals have been particularly influential.
Started in 1954, the Newport Jazz Festival is the city’s oldest music festival, as well as, reputedly, the first one in the nation to showcase that style of music. Created by jazz impresario George Wein and partners Elaine and Louis Lorillard, the event now known as the JVC Jazz Festival has hosted jazz’s biggest names and been the subject of films and books. It is scheduled for the second weekend in August.
The Dunkin’ Donuts Newport Folk Festival has its own rich history, having served as the home of countless live recordings and having hosted famous performances by Johnny Cash and Howlin’ Wolf. The festival, started in 1959 by Wein and several partners, and planned for the first weekend in August, also can claim one of the more infamous moments of Bob Dylan’s career – the famed electric set that got him booed off the stage by his longtime folk fans.
Susan Auclair, publicist for the two festivals, said they have managed to attract so much attention to Aquidneck Island because of the caliber of their performers and the fact that no one was doing anything like them at the time when they began. For instance, the first year the jazz festival was held, the press and the public were enthralled with the idea of the predominately African-American style of music taking center stage, she said, and the “place was packed.”
“I think that these festivals put Newport on the map, along with the America’s Cup races,” Auclair said.
More than a decade after the jazz festival began, another music event was born in the city.
The Newport Music Festival, which began in 1967, as an offshoot of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, was the city’s first festival to feature classical music.
But it wasn’t until 1969 – after problems with sopranos being unable to sing and cellos falling apart in the humid weather, in the first attempts at the show – that the festival was moved inside Newport’s historic mansions, which are its current home.
According to festival director Mark P. Malkovich III, the rigorous schedule of 67 concerts in 17 days attracts about 28,000 people a year. The audience tends to be the type that has discretionary income to spend on food and in stores, he said.
“It becomes the playground for the most important people in Chicago, the most important people in Washington, the most important people in Boston, and down the line,” Malkovich said. “So it’s a very sophisticated, cultured and wealthy community come summertime.”
Although that audience has largely comprised 40-to-65-year-old attendees, Malkovich’s son – Mark Malkovich IV – said this year has seen a larger percentage of young patrons.
“So much of our success comes from word of mouth – and that is due, of course, to the great artists and the fantastic music that is presented,” Malkovich IV said.
Meanwhile, Newport’s newest large festival is aiming to attract an even younger crowd.
The Sunset Music Festival, which completed its ninth year earlier this month, appeals to rock fans with acts such as Train, “American Idol” contestant Bo Bice, and local bands, including Zox. It also aims to attract more of a pop-music fan base than the other festivals, with acts such as Peter Frampton and Judy Collins.
“Our festival is eclectic,” said Christopher Perrotti, general manager for the Sunset Music Festival. “There’s something for everyone.”
Perrotti said the event – modeled after the Boston festival Concerts on the Commons – drew about 10,000 people in 2005. Attendance at this year’s festival was higher than at last year’s, he said, though weather issues prevented some of the shows from doing as well as some concerts have in the past.
Perrotti estimates that only about 40 percent of the audience comes from Aquidneck Island. The rest of the festival-goers come from across New England, and a few travel from further.
The Sunset event started as three-day festival, Perrotti said, and has grown into a nine-day event, spread over two weeks. He said it should grow even more in the future.
“Music is part of the waterfront,” Perrotti said. “It’s always been a part of the yachting and boating community, and there’s no better place to listen to any type of music than the waterfront in Newport.”
