Mavis and Kermit Surprised 2019 Newport Folk Festival Goers

The Newport Folk Festival has been a fixture in Rhode Island for over 60 years. That might make you feel a little long in the tooth if you were a part of the peace and love generation.

The Newport Folk Festival was launched in 1959 by George Wein, the same guy who founded the Newport Jazz Festival. Wein owned a big jazz club in Boston called Storyville.

Wein devoted an afternoon of the Jazz Festival to folk music featuring Odetta, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio and The Weavers. From there, the Newport Folk Festival was born.

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The Newport Folk Festival was active from 1959-1960, 1963-1969, and then 1985 to the present. The festival is held at Fort Adams State Park.

I have attended several Newport Folk and Newport Jazz Festivals over the years, seeing such acts as Joan Baez, The Indigo Girls, Mary Chapin Carpenter, B.B. King, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, and many others.

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Those attending the Newport Folk Festival's 60th anniversary in July 2019 enjoyed a stellar line-up and some surprises to mark the special occasion.

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The 2019 Newport Folk Festival paid tribute to Pete Seeger. It also saw the introduction of the Highwomen, featuring Brandi Carlisle, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby.

What was amazing was the surprise appearances by Mavis Staples, Dolly Parton, Judy Collins and Kermit the Frog.

Billboard said in a July 2019 piece, "Kermit the Frog doesn't play festivals because he's, um, a Muppet, but whatever."

Have you ever been to a concert and someone not scheduled to be there makes a surprise entrance?

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