The 2025 Newport Jazz Festival returns this week

NEWPORT, R.I. — The 2025 Newport Jazz Festival returns this week!

One of the most iconic music festivals in the United States is set to return this week, continuing a tradition that began more than 70 years ago. The Newport Jazz Festival, founded in 1954, will celebrate its 71st year August 1–3, 2025, at Fort Adams State Park, bringing together some of the biggest names in music for a weekend of performances.

The 2025 lineup features a mix of legendary artists and contemporary innovators, including The Roots, De La Soul, Janelle Monáe, Jorja Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Jacob Collier, Raye, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Other notable performers include Terence Blanchard, Willow, and collaborative sets from jazz-fusion icons like Béla Fleck, Antonio Sánchez, and Edmar Castañeda.

Photo: Newport Jazz website

All three-day passes for the event have sold out. A limited number of single-day tickets have been distributed through a waitlist system on the DICE app, the festival’s exclusive ticketing platform. Organizers have emphasized that only mobile QR codes will be accepted at the gate, with no printed tickets.

Held at the historic Fort Adams, the Newport Jazz Festival has long been revered as a cornerstone of American music history. Launched by promoter George Wein with the support of socialites Elaine and Louis Lorillard, the inaugural 1954 festival brought 13,000 people to the Newport Casino to witness performances by jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. Over the decades, it would go on to host legendary sets by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, and countless others.

In recent years, the festival has embraced a broader musical palette, blending jazz with soul, hip-hop, funk, and experimental music, all while preserving its jazz roots.

The festival site at Fort Adams will open daily at 10 a.m., with music beginning around 11 a.m. Food vendors, craft markets, and beer and wine gardens will be available throughout the day. The event is all-ages, re-entry is not permitted, and attendees are encouraged to review venue guidelines ahead of time (see below).

The Newport Jazz Festival continues to be one of the longest-running music festivals in the U.S., and its impact on the jazz world remains unmatched. As it looks to the future with the 2025 event, the festival once again proves its relevance, vitality, and commitment to honoring tradition while embracing the new.

In May, the Newport Festivals Foundation, the nonprofit behind the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, announced the release of its first-ever official Rhode Island charity license plate.

For more information, including full lineups and festival policies, visit newportjazz.org.