The next few weeks are arguably the busiest for restaurants, retailers, streets and just about everything else in Newport. largest events of the summer and the busiest few weeks around the City-By-The-Sea. Here are some random and fun things to know…
A lot of that has to due with a few of largest events of the summer taking place, Newport Folk Festival, Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Bridge Festival.
We love numbers and fun facts, here are some random and fun things to know (and to share with your festival friends) over the next few weeks,
Newport Folk Festival – July 28-30, 2017
- 10,000 — Capacity of Fort Adams State Park for the Newport Folk Festival.
- 3,900 – Number of bikes parked at Fort Adams over the three days of the 2016 Newport Folk Festival (1,350 on Friday, 1,250 on Saturday and 1,300 on Sunday), the highest total in the history of the festival.
- 300 — Tickets sold to each night of Deer Tick & Friends After Parties at Newport Blues Cafe.
- 74 – time slots scheduled for the 2017 Festival, from Open Mic on Friday morning to John Prine on Sunday evening.
- 67 – hours of music happening during the Newport Folk Festival over the three days ( if it was possible to see 100% of every performance) – an average of 22 hours per day.
- 58 — Years since July, 1959 when the Newport Folk Festival started as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival.
- 32 — Years ago the Newport Folk Festival was revived after falling hard times in the late 1960s, even closing its doors for a number of years beginning in 1971.
- 28 .5 – Hours the Newport Folk Festival gates are open throughout the weekend (9.5 hours per day, 10 am to 7:30 pm)
- 7— Sold-out After Parties/Fundraisers are being held in 2017 after the festival at Fort Adams (1 at Beller Mer, 2 at Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center and 4 at Newport Blues Cafe)
- 5 – Stages at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Bridgefest – July 31 – August 3, 2017
- 12 — events will make up the 2017 Newport BridgeFest
- 8 — This will be the 8th Newport Bridgefest, since being founded in 2009 by Lois Vaughan and then run by the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County.
- 2 – For the second year, Newport Festivals Foundation presents Bridgefest, which “bridges” the days between the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals and celebrates folk, jazz and Newport’s musical community.
Newport Jazz Festival – August 4 – 6, 2017
- 10,000 — Capacity of Fort Adams State Park for the Newport Folk Festival.
- 92 — Age of George Wein, the “father” of outdoor music festivals
- 63 —years ago (1954) the first Newport Jazz Festival was held in Newport.
- 54 —different artists/sets scheduled to perform at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival
- 36 — years (since 1981) the Newport Jazz Festival has consecutively been hosted at Fort Adams State Park.
- 28 — Age George Wein was when he helped get the first Newport Jazz Festival off the ground.
- 4 — Stages at the Newport Jazz Festival
- 3 — Artists have performed the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival in the same year, Rhiannon Giddens will join Norah Jones and Jon Batiste as the only artists to do so when she performs at the Newport Folk Festival on Sunday, July 30th and Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5th . In 2012, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band played the Fort at the Folk Festival and at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino for Jazz.
Economic Impact
Here’s a breakdown of Newport Folk Festival’s and Newport Jazz Festival’s last economic impact study*;
- $5,089,367.00 – – Estimated direct spending contribution to the State of Rhode Island by the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. Previous studies estimated the combined economic impact on Rhode Island at $3,710,000.00. (Impact Studies conducted by The Office of Travel, Tourism, and Recreation at the University of Rhode Island: 1994 Jazz Festival – $2.11 million; 1997 Folk Festival – $1.60 million).
- 89.1% — of attendees specifically came to Newport and Rhode Island for the Festivals.
- 79% — of Festival attendees listed the Festival websites as their chief source of information. Social media and word of mouth were other key sources.
- 56.4% — of Festival attendees were women.
- 43.6% — of Festival attendees were men.
- 41.7% — of Festival attendees earned graduate degrees.
- 25.2% — of overall Festival attendees were in the 25-34 age group.
- 25.2% — of tickets for the Newport Jazz Festival purchased by Rhode Islanders online.
- 22% — of the overall attendees earned an average income of $100,000 – $149,000.
- 15.8% — of tickets purchased for the Newport Folk Festival purchased by Rhode Islanders online.
*The latest study done to measure the economic impact of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals on Newport and the State of Rhode Island was done in 2013 for the 2012 events.