Newport Folk Festival

Annual festival in Newport, Rhode Island, established 1959 by George Wein as a folk/blues/country equivalent of the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival is the biggest folk music festival in the US. In later years the music have expanded to include such styles as alternative country and indie folk. There was no festival in 1961 and 1962, and the festival folded from 1970 until 1985 when it was revived. The original festival board included musicians Theodore Bikel, Oscar Brand, Pete Seeger and Albert Grossman.