Newport Folk Festival 2026
When you’re riding a water taxi, or waiting in line to get a Del’s Lemonade, or relaxing in a beach chair at the Newport Folk Festival, it is very common to strike up a conversation with the folks around you. I think I talk to more strangers at Newport than anywhere else in my life. And the common entry point is about what sets have been big highlights for people. I love these conversations, because people are so eager to share–their eyes light up, sometimes their eyes tear up, and they are transported for just a minute back to that experience.
So, in that spirit, here are the sets that made me light up, tear up, or both this year:
Haley Heynderickx & Max García Conover. This duo put out one of my favorite records of 2025, the Woody-Guthrie-inspired-and-yet-completely-contemporary What of Our Nature. The performance was pretty much perfect. Max & Haley’s voices complement each other beautifully, drawing comparisons to another famous Newport duo, Bob Dylan & Joan Baez. Max thoughtfully reflected that 11 days earlier, in his home state of Maine, “on a beautiful day, on a day like this, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, was murdered by ICE.” The songs masterfully weave the urgency of this moment with the joy and love necessary to meet it. I loved Haley’s performance of “In Bulosan’s Words,” a song composed of the Filipino poet and novelist Carlos Bulosan’s work. And the final song, “This Morning I Am Born Again,” was the perfect song to end on, leading the Harbor Stage audience to leap to a standing ovation.
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Play the Grateful Dead. From the first words of “Bertha,” the first song they played, I was hooked. The simple set up of two guitars, bass, and snare drum belied the intricacy and magic that was on display. Both Gillian and bassist Paul Kowert took turns on the snare, sometimes while also playing their guitar and bass. Nathaniel Rateliff joined them on the drum and vocals for “Black Peter,” and there was an adorable moment during “Uncle John’s Band,” where the words got confused, and the literal next verse had the line: “Oh, oh, what I want to know is, How does this song go?” It was a great reminder that imperfect moments can be better than flawless ones.
CMAT and the Very Sexy CMAT Band stole my heart. They had swagger and confidence, “because we’re excellent,” as CMAT said. The band’s choreography added humor to the performance, and CMAT herself is one of the best frontwomen I’ve ever seen. Euro-Country is a brilliant album, and those songs dominated the setlist, but she also brought out Brandi Carlile for a Sapphic love song from her earlier work, “I’d Want U.” Brandi seemed in awe of CMAT, because she’s excellent, because she’s dazzling, and because of her irrepressible energy. I think she spoke for all of us, when she said to CMAT, “You’re amazing.”
Lauryn Hill. I mean, what more could you ask for than an icon performing iconic songs brilliantly? Her voice is as strong as ever, and her band was so good. It’s a big setup, so there were some technical challenges getting the stage changed over, and her set was delayed by about 45 minutes. But it was worth the wait and then some.
Snacktime. Speaking of Lauryn Hill, one of the best moments of the set was when Newport-darlings Snacktime joined her on stage. In fact, it’s always the best moment of a set when these guys join in. They might have won the Jim James award this year for most collaborations, and their own set on the Fort stage was a perfect display of their ability to move a crowd from waiting to exuberance in sixty seconds. In 2025, they took a lot of people by surprise, and were many people’s favorite set of the Festival; in 2026, they had a devoted following and I hope they become NFF fixtures for many years to come.
If Snacktime represents the artists who hype up a crowd, John R. Miller’s set was the best example of how to make people stop and listen. He was the recipient of the John Prine Songwriter’s Fellowship, and it is so well deserved. While his brilliant new record, The Great Unknowing, features a lot of gritty guitar sound, Miller stripped down to an acoustic guitar, with accompaniment from J. Tom Hnatow on lead/slide guitar and Chloe Edmundstone on fiddle. It was the perfect way to highlight his lyricism that is certainly reminiscent of Prine and his beautifully sorrowed voice, which reminds me a lot of Jay Farrar.
The final set on the Harbor Stage was a bluegrass masterclass, with Peter Rowan joined by a band of stone-cold assassins: Sierra Hull, Sam Grisman, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, and Max Wareham. Rowan is 84, but damn that voice is there. His harmonies with Sierra and Teresa were so perfect, and I guess if you’ve been singing bluegrass songs for literally sixty years, you’re going to know how to harmonize. After the first couple of songs, Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch snuck on stage to join the band, with mischievous smiles on their faces as they crept up behind the band. They played on “Walls of Time,” which Rowan co-wrote with Bill Monroe, and it was a perfect combination of playfulness and mastery that makes bluegrass such a wonderfully creative style of music.
There were so many wonderful moments at this Festival, and you’ve probably heard about the big ones, like Dave Matthews as the surprise guest in the last set, or Hayley Williams bringing out guest after guest in her headlining set. But the magic, to me, of this Festival happens on the small stages. Tim Bernardes singing a Portuguese version of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” to close his achingly gorgeous set. Community Chapstick creating a real community feeling by giving out CC bracelets to eager fans following their debut on the Foundation stage. Sally Rose being supported by fellow Virginians Illiterate Light and Sasha Landon (Palmyra) as they lit up the Bike stage. Chris Pierce bringing his “Songs for the Heavy Hearted” to us on Sunday morning and making us all feel a little less heavy for a little while. Oakland Rising, a group of teenagers from California who had come in as part of the Sea to Shining Sea Project, learned they were playing the Bike stage about two hours before their set, and they made lifelong fans before the end of their first song with their beautiful harmonies and lyrics that are wise beyond their years. And, of course, seeing The Lumineers return to their roots of house concerts by playing the Bike Stage was so fun. For me, when in doubt at Newport, go to the smallest stage available, and you will be rewarded.
When I sat down to write this review, I had just learned of Glen Hansard’s death. Glen performed on some of the biggest stages in the world, but he was always a busker at heart, playing on the smallest stage there is, with no venue, no tickets, no audience assured, just a belief that a song can reach someone who may not even know they need it.
I saw Glen twice at Newport, and both times he used his position on the stage to make space for others. In 2016, he invited his friend and photographer Anthony Mulcahy to come out of the photo pit to sing “The Auld Triangle.” Last year, he stepped aside for an up-and-coming Irish songwriter, Josh O’Keefe, to sing his amazing song, “Build a Wall,” to the crowd. Glen embodied the best of Newport–the generosity, spontaneity, and kindness that make this Festival different. I hope there are massive busking tributes to him next year. But I also hope that we can all take lessons from how he lived: be humble, be generous, and, if you’ve only got one song to sing, fuckin go for it.
Until next time, Newport.