Newport Folk Festival made their first 2020 lineup announcement this morning.

Big Thief has the honor of being the first artist to be named for the iconic and sold-out festival. This will be a return to Fort Adams for Big Thief, they previously played the Newport Folk Festival in 2017.

In tradition, Newport Folk Festival rolls out their lineup over several months via posts on their social media pages. In any given year there are typically between 50 – 60 lineup announcements.

Last year, Newport Folk Festival began making donations on behalf of each artist to a charity/nonprofit of the artist’s choice, it looks as if that tradition will continue in 2020.

The sold-out 2020 Newport Folk Festival is scheduled for Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 2 at Fort Adams State Park.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...