Home Live Review Snapshots: Newport Folk Festival @ Fort Adams State Park, RI — 7/25-7/27/25

Live Review

Snapshots: Newport Folk Festival @ Fort Adams State Park, RI — 7/25-7/27/25

August 15, 2025

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Bleachers @ Newport Folk Festival 2025 Fort Adams State Park RI Photo by Casey Ryan Vock — Jack Antonoff and his band Bleachers perform the final set on the opening night at the 2025 Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams State Park in Rhode Island. (Photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

There is no other live music event in America that can really compare to the Newport Folk Festival. Executed each year with precision, providing an inviting experience for both performers and fans alike, it’s become a bucket-list weekend for most serious concert goers.

For three consecutive days every year in late July, artist after artist takes one of four stages at storied Fort Adams State Park, expressing gratitude and pure delight for the opportunity to play one of the most influential gatherings in all the land.

The 2025 edition of Newport Folk, held from July 25 to 27, was one for the ages and, as always, the musical varieties were boundless.

Listen to the official Newport Folk Festival playlist published to Spotify:

Headliners included the likes of Public Enemy and Mary Chapin Carpenter, bands like flipturn and Dehd and numerous rising star songwriters, including Jesse Welles and MJ Lenderman.

The drop-in guests were plentiful and high-profile: from Hayley Williams joining Bleachers on the first night, to Kenny Loggins, a headliner himself, sitting in with Goose, and then a list of guests on the final “Songs for the People” set curated by Joshua Kaufman, the sought-after producer and founding member of Bonny Light Horseman.

The sold-out crowd enjoyed what was mostly three consecutive days of pleasant weather, save a powerful storm that came through on Day 2.

Parklife DC was there to take in as much of each stage as possible on all three days — another unforgettable go at the Fort.

Bleachers setlist – July 25, 2025

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Rollercoaster
Goodmorning
Dream a Little Dream of Me (Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra cover w/ Weyes Blood)
You Got It (Roy Orbison cover w/ Waxahatchee and Weyes Blood)
Maybe (Dan Reeder cover w/ Dan and Peggy Reeder, Waxahatchee and Weyes Blood
I Wanna Get Better
Don’t Go Dark (w/ Maren Morris)
45 (w/ Rufus Wainwright)
Not Dark Yet (Bob Dylan cover w/ Rufus Wainwright)
Margaret (Lana Del Ray cover w/ Jeff Tweedy)
Kamera (Wilco cover w/ Jeff Tweedy)
Mirtazapine (Hayley Williams cover w/ Hayley Williams)
I Melt With You (Modern English cover w/ Hayley Williams)
The Whole of the Moon (Waterboys cover)
Modern Girl

Luke Combs setlist – July 26, 2025

Acoustic
Doin’ This
Still
Back 40 Back
Where the Wild Things Are
Whoever You Turn Out to Be
The Part
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Joe
You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Darrell Scott cover)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Bob Dylan cover)
Wish Upon A Whiskey
This One’s For You

Electric
Fox in the Henhouse
When It Rains It Pours
1, 2 Many
Someone You Loved / A Thousand Miles / Seven Nation Army / Gimme Three Steps
Been Never Broke My Heart
Fast Car (Tracy Chapman cover)

Songs for the People (led by Joshua Kaufman) setlist – July 27, 2025

America (Simon & Garfunkel cover w/ Bonny Light Horseman)
Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution (Tracy Chapman cover w/ Alynda Mariposa Segarra of Hurray For The Riff Raff)
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison cover w/ The Swell Season)
Yes We Can Can (Allen Toussaint cover with Trombone Shorty)
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover w/ Nathaniel Rateliff)
Waitin’ for a Superman (The Flaming Lips cover w/ Matt Berninger and Ronboy)
Eyes of the World (Grateful Dead cover w/ Rick Mitarotonda of Goose)
Deportee / Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Woody Guthrie cover / Margo Price)
Friendship (J. Blackfoot cover w/ Mavis Staple & Jeff Tweedy)
God Only Knows (Beach Boys cover w/ Lucius)
Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson cover w/ Maren Morris)
Revolution (The Beatles cover w/ Jesse Welles)
All You Fascists Bound to Lose (Woody Guthrie cover w/ Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover w/ Lukas Nelson)
My Generation (The Who cover)
Goodnight, Irene

Below are images of the 2025 Newport Folk Festival, held at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI, from July 25 to July 27, 2025. All photos copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.