Rhode Island has quite a lot of festivals. They are celebrations of culture, music, food, hobbies, places. They bring people together, sometimes modest groups and sometimes enormous crowds that saturate a whole town.
When I was younger, I was lucky enough that my family would go to some festivals. My favorite was always the Charlestown Seafood Festival, now in it’s 40th year. It’s the only place I know of where you can eat alligator!
But one festival I have never been to is the Newport Jazz Fest. A full weekend of top of the line musicians at scenic Fort Adams. Massive crowds of people from all over come to sit on the green, or hang out on their sailboats in the bay. Since the 1950’s, they’ve had acts like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, and the list goes on. It’s really a phenomenon. The history is fascinating.
These days, I don’t go to too many festivals. With the world at large discovering Rhode Island’s charms (not to sound like an old lady, but it was really a different place here when I was a kid), I don’t dig the crowds, parking issues, fees, or roasting in the sun all day. I suppose I’ll just stick to my newfound jazz cafe–a much more laid back kind of vibe.