Newport adds temporary bike lanes for 65th Folk Festival

NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — Fort Adams State Park is ready for the65th Newport Folk Festival.

Friday will mark the first day, including performances by Hozier, Dropkick Murphys, and Elle King.

“I am so excited,” Jamestown resident Adam Dibiase said. “This is my first festival.”

For the first time since the festival started in 1959, new temporary bike lanes were added to Harrison Avenue.

The goal is to allow bikers to safely get to and from the festival.

“It’s a wonderful way to get to the festival,” Executive Director for Bike Newport Bari Freeman said. “Because there is so much traffic congestion coming, you bypass that on a bicycle. You are also contributing to reducing traffic congestion, reducing carbon emissions, and it’s more fun.”

Bike Newport set up to 1,800 bikes in one day and it hopes to reach 2,000 in a day this year.

“Most people who are coming here, they are driving a mile or two miles, which are very bikeable and walkable distances,” Freeman said.

The festival expects around 10,000 people to attend, with tickets having gone on sale in February and selling out within minutes.

“At an event like the Folk Festival, there is not a ton of parking,” Dibiase said. “There are so many cars bottlenecking to the same place. Biking is such a great way for big events like this to accommodate as many people for all the people attending the event.”

Bike Newport will be tracking bikes by putting a traffic counter down on roads that are able to recognize the distinction between a bike and a car.

If you are feeling lucky, you can join the waitlist to go to the sold-out festival.

More information about biking to the event can be found here.