My father saw Big Brother & the Holding Company at the Newport Folk Festival in 1968. I didn’t know that until after I had attended several festivals myself. My first festival was in 2001 and I’ve been returning to the fort almost every summer since then.
I’m an amateur archive nerd, so this project initially started as a way for me to keep track of all the great acts that I personally saw at Newport. But then I also found myself googling some of the sets from many, many years ago (including finding the audio for that 1968 Big Brother set!). And I realized that other folks were probably just as interested in the history and memories. Thus, I decided to try to put together the most complete archive I can. And so here we are.
Right now, I’m starting with the most recent information first. There’s more of it out there and I don’t want to see it lost as well. My plan is to work my way backwards to 2001 and then start at the beginning in 1959. I’m trying to include a photo, setlist, and links to any audio and video that I can find. Furthermore, I’m bookmarking, downloading, and archiving as much as I can so things won’t get lost if a video comes down from youtube or whatnot. This archive is by no means complete. I’m adding information in as I come across it, but I am quite certain that there is more missing. If you want to contribute to the project, please get in touch. This is a bit of a daunting task, so all contributions are appreciated. Right now, we are sticking to google searching and submitted contributions, but in the future, I would love to include more oral histories, written stories, etc.
Please note that this site is completely independent of Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Festivals Foundation. Also, note that this is completely a volunteer project and no profit is being made from this site.