This year for Newport I wanted to do something a little bit different than the “go and shoot some photos, write some recaps, wait until next year” deal that I have done in the past. NFF holds a very obvious, special place in my heart but I was curious why others keep coming back. Why even if artists aren’t slotted to play the festival you still can find them wandering backstage or in the wings above the Fort stage. Why there are fans who come back year after year and buy their tickets well before even one artist is announced. What is it that makes Newport so different for other people and are those reasons the same as why I love it so much.

So I got in touch with some friends, grabbed a few friends on the spot and while on site at Fort Adams this year asked them the question “why is the Newport Folk Festival special to you?”

I asked artists both old and new, production folks and stage managers, and fans why they love this festival. A question that I often find hard to pin down precisely myself, but just have a feverish passion and appreciation for. The result was very much the same. The community that is built around this thing is a family. The people who plan this thing just know how to treat artists and fans alike. There is just something special, a magic of sorts, that washes over the grounds at Fort Adams when the fest takes place each year.

But don’t take my word for it…