Welcome to Festival Circuit: Newport Folk!  In our first episode, we take you straight to historic Fort Adams State Park, the site where the Newport Folk family gathers to celebrate music and community each July. We learn directly from Newport crew members about the energy, planning, work, and love that goes into envisioning and building the festival each year. We’ll take you across the Harbor, through the gates, and into the Fort to experience Newport through the eyes, ears, and hearts of some of the people who are at the center of making Newport Folk what it is, year after year. And we'll find out why one Veteran Nurse from Newport takes her vacation days every summer to stand at her gate. This is where we begin to weave together some of the voices and stories across the decades that all make up the fabric of the bigger story of how Newport Folk has endured and continues to offer magic and the unexpected, for all. We'll see you at the Fort, don’t forget to hydrate and wear sunscreen! Festival Circuit: Newport Folk is presented by Osiris Media, and hosted by Carmel Holt. It is co-written, co-produced and edited by Carmel and Julian Booker, who is also the series' audio engineer. Production assistance from Zach Brogan. Executive producers are RJ Bee and Christina Collins. Show Logo and Art by Mark Dowd.  The theme music is "Ruminations Pt. 3 (Afternoon Haze)" by Steven Warwick. Thanks to Billy Glassner of the Newport Festivals Foundation for providing archival audio. And many thanks to our folk family guests Mary Ann Crook, Alison Pangakis, Art Jenkins, Pete Caigan, Pete Hanlon, Judy Collins, Colin Meloy, Jay Sweet, George Wein, Jim James, Brian Lima, Brittany Howard, John McCauley, Phil and Brad Cook, Margo Price, Jody Whelan, Jess Wolfe, Holly Laessig, and Amy Ray. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices