I am pretty sure that each day of the Newport Folk Festival weekend Jay Sweet runs a marathon and a half going back and forth between the 4 stages at Fort Adams. I swear the man has an elaborate underground tunnel system or teleportation with how quickly he bounces back and forth between the different sets, making announcements between sets (i.e. “thunder and lightning storms are coming…”) or announcing an act he is especially excited about. All that, plus carrying the weight of the stress that everything falls into place, greeting and hugging artists backstage. The man is a mountain.
But, every mountain, however big its peak, is part of a chain. All the folks who are a part of this big thing we love so very much. The thing that I look forward to all year long, from the second the prior year’s festival ends. The thing that means s much to so many of us.
To Britt, Caps, Dan, George and everyone else who also pours so much heart and love into this event. A hugely thankless job that not many people understand the gravitas of. Thank you guys so, so much for all that you do. From the bottom of my heart. For curating not just a special festival, but THE festival. Newport is the pinnacle of what a great summer festival is. This is the definition.
SEVEN DAYS…