Rhode Island hosts several large festivals during the year that provide fun activities for the entire family.
Rhode Island hosts dozens of festivals each year for a variety of interests. To follow are a few of the larger events worth planning your vacation around.
Rhode Island's oldest and most storied resort town, Newport, is home to two large music festivals each August. Newport's most beautiful asset is its photo-perfect New England shoreline, and these festivals take full advantage of that backdrop. Both events are located at Fort Adams State Park, a historic military fort dating back to 1824 and used by the U.S. Naval Academy during the Civil War. Providing sweeping water views of both Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, Fort Adams still features massive masonry walls that serve as a perfect staging area for musical acts. Its unique location allows the events to be enjoyed not just by lawn spectators, but also by the many pleasure boats and cruise ships that pull into Newport harbor to hear and see the events.
The most famous of the musical events at Fort Adams is the JVC Jazz Festival. This weekend-long concert celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004, thereby making it one of the oldest jazz festivals in the country. Founded by wealthy socialites in 1954 in the hopes of introducing jazz to American audiences, the JVC Jazz Festival has featured jazz legends like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and even Frank Sinatra. More recent performers have included Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. The JVC Jazz Festival attracts jazz fans from around the country to Rhode Island each August.
Another well-respected music festival at Fort Adams is the Newport Folk Fest. The annual early August event is a forum for true acoustic folk music, and legend has it that fans once booed a young Bob Dylan off the stage for using an electric guitar. Bob Dylan returned to the festival in 2002, adhering to the "pure" folk style.
One of the most unique of Rhode Island festivals is also focused around water. Waterfire, a seasonal art exhibit in Providence, is built along the three rivers that converge throughout the newly rebuilt downtown area of the city. What began as a small art installation in 1997 has turned into a significant tourist attraction highlighting the city's renaissance as an arts and dining mecca. Each Saturday evening at sunset from May through October, 100 small bonfires are lit along the rivers winding through the city, resulting in a beautiful and unique exhibit for strolling tourists and residents. In recent years, the event has spurred other free outdoor activities, including an open-air ballroom complete with dancing lessons and a jazz music stage. Waterfire brings the city alive with activity on warm summer evenings.
The Rhode Island International Film Festival, commonly called RIIFF, is one of the largest festivals in New England, attracting close to 20,000 attendees annually. Nationally recognized for screening independent films, this juried competition shows over 185 films over six days in August. RIIFF has grown so large in its eight short years that it is now conducted at satellite locations all throughout the state, with the majority of activity centered in Providence and Newport. Kenneth Branagh is included among past honorees of the festival.
For those looking to experience New England's Revolutionary War roots, Gaspee Days in the Warwick area provide a bit of Americana for the whole family. For the past 40 years, the village of Pawtuxet puts on a month-long festival commemorating June 9, 1772, when a small group of Rhode Islanders burned the British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee. Many mark this event as the colonies' first strike against British rule and the unofficial "kickoff" of the American Revolution. The village celebrates this event with a month of activities, including fireworks, reenactments, grand parades, arts and crafts festivals, a road race and regatta, among many other events.
For a brief taste of spring in a long New England winter, the Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show in February should satisfy any gardener. Held annually in the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, this event features over 150,000 square feet of gardening exhibits and displays, floral designers and experts specializing in unique New England growing conditions.
