Newport Folk Festival is on for 2021; What Does That Mean for New Orleans?

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Another major festival announced its plans for 2021, and they hint at what might happen in New Orleans in October.

The Newport Folk Festival announced on Tuesday that it will take place this year July 23-25 and July 26-28 at 50 percent capacity. That potentially signals a few things for New Orleans’ festivals. 

1) Every festival that takes place ups the odds of those that follow it will take place. Each one demonstrates that they can happen at this point in the pandemic, and it will be hard for New Orleans to argue that French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest, Buku and Voodoo can’t take place unless we get a bad spike of variant infections. That kind of activity, taken with the growing number of national acts on tour and shows booked in New Orleans during what will be Jazz Fest weekends if everything goes as planned make the festivals seem more likely. 

2) It’s unlikely that Jazz Festival and the other festivals will cap their attendance at 50 percent, but to the extent that it’s possible, I expect New Orleans’ festivals to establish maximum capacities. Buku already does since it occupies the smallest footprint and will return in the form of “Planet B,” which promises to be “an alternative take on Buku.” It’s hard to imagine how the free French Quarter Fest’s attendance can be capped, but Jazz Fest will likely have one, even if it isn’t obvious. The festival has been reluctant to cap tickets in the past so it’s hard to imagine that it will run at Newport’s 50 percent, which is a number that would hurt its ability to afford headline talent. 

3) The festivals will sell out or get close if there’s a capacity number to hit. Both Outside Lands and Bonnaroo sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale. There was fear going into 2021 that the market for festivals might be soft due to the job loss that accompanied the pandemic. So far, that hasn’t proven to be the case. Perhaps we now know just where attending music festivals ranks on some people’s lists of priorities, or we can to figure out who was hit by layoffs and COVID-related job loss.

4) Attendees will be required to have proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test at Newport. We’ll likely see that this fall as well since we’re unlikely to reach herd immunity any time soon. Louisianans from outside of New Orleans may balk at that, but since Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest are first and foremost tourist events, they’ll have restrictions to make attendees feel safer. 

Newport Folk Festival tickets will go on sale Tuesday, May 18, and unless things change, they’ll go on sale before a lineup is announced. We should start to get a clearer picture of what will happen in New Orleans in June or July. Jazz Fest, Buku, and Voodoo tend to announce their tickets and lineups with four or so months until the festivals, so even though we want answers now, fans have successfully bought tickets and booked travel in that four-month window for decades and will be able to do so if the festivals stay true to form. 

Here’s the Newport Folk Festival announcement:

This summer, Newport will stage a once-in-a-lifetime event for its audience - bringing intimate and up-close experiences for fans and artists alike. As always, Newport Folk will bring surprise guests and never before seen collaborations all set to the backdrop of Narragansett Bay. Newport Folk may not look the same, but it will feel the same. This year’s event will have a 50% reduction in capacity and take place across two main stages, and thus it will be configured as two 3-Day events (instead of one) taking place July 23-25 and July 26-28. We will only be offering 3-Day passes for each event at $230 plus fees. Children are welcome, but we will not be selling children tickets this year. Children 2 and under are free. All available tickets will go on sale via Eventbrite next Tuesday, May 18th at 11AM ET. Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite.

At the moment, it’s too early to publish our safety protocols in full detail. The conditions of the pandemic are evolving daily and trending in a positive direction. The safety of our fans, artists, staff, vendors and volunteers remains our top priority. We will communicate and publish detailed protocols as the event date gets closer so you know exactly what to expect. For now, please note that you will most likely be subject to certain health protocols required at the time of the event that include proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, temperature checks, social distancing and mask-wearing.

The impact of last year’s festival cancellations has been felt deeply throughout the community as Newport Festivals Foundation relies on the revenue it makes each year at the festivals in order to carry out its work. Thanks to the support of the Newport Folk and Jazz fans and donors, NFF has been able to continue to support music programs in our own backyard of Newport, Rhode Island and all across America. Since 2018, the Artist Gives initiative has provided over 100 grants to music education programs in over 30 states, including instruments for public schools, funding for music instruction workshops for Veterans, Girls Rock Summer camps, after school music lessons for children with learning disabilities, and more.

In addition to its year round work and in response to the pandemic, the foundation established the Newport Festivals Musician Relief Fund (MRF) to provide financial relief to musicians in our Folk & Jazz communities experiencing a loss of income as a result of COVID-19. Resources from NFF and donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations have allowed the MRF to help over 450 musicians since April 1, 2020. To learn more about NFF’s programs and work, visit newportfestivals.org.