Whether you prefer galas, regattas, festivals, sport, music, parades or parties, here’s our list of the can’t miss, must go, see and be seen events in Newport, Rhode Island for 2018.
2018 is shaping up to be a busy one here in the City by the Sea and we have all the details!
February
Country Fest Newport at Newport Blues Cafe: February 10th
Country Fest Newport brings widely known local and regional acts to perform in the heart of downtown Newport.
Newport Winter Festival: February 16th – 28th
10 Days of Non Stop Music, Food and Fun! Featuring over 150 events, the Festival offers a unique winter experience combining food, festivities, music, and fun for all ages. Melt away your winter blues with all the Newport Winter Festival has to offer.
Newport Winter Fest Comedy Show featuring Steve Sweeny and Marion Grodin – February 23rd
March
Newport Irish Heritage Month: March 1st – 31st
‘All Things Irish’ occurring in the Newport area during the month of March. Including event from the Ancient Order of Hibernian, the AOH Pipes & Drums, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Museum of Newport Irish History, the Newport Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee and the Newport Irish Heritage Association.
Newport Restaurant Week: March 2nd – 11th
More than 50 participating restaurants offer extraordinary three-course prix fixe lunches for $16 and three-course prix fixe dinners for $35.
62nd Annual Newport Saint Patrick’s Day Parade: March 17th
Best day of the year in Newport. Enough said.
Curator’s Lecture: Art for Art’s Sake: March 27th, 6pm
How did Oscar Wilde, the face of the British Aesthetic Movement (1870-1890), come to find himself in Newport entertaining “the most prominent cottagers” at the Casino Theater on Bellevue Avenue on July 15, 1882? The curator of our new exhibition,”Bohemian Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement and Oscar Wilde’s Newport,” will explore the impresario’s grand North American lecture tour including Wilde’s message of aestheticism that he brought to Newport, and consider it against the backdrop of three of the Preservation Society’s most important Aesthetic interiors: Chateau-sur-Mer, Kingscote and Isaac Bell House.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10 / General Public $15. Purchase online at www.NewportMansions.org, or call 401-847-1851.
April
Newport Symposium, Great Collectors: Taste, Passion & Patronage: April 26-29
The 26th annual Newport Symposium, Great Collectors: Taste, Passion & Patronage, will be held Thursday, April 26 to Sunday, April 29, 2018, debuting a new weekend schedule, new venue and, for the first time, a one-day registration option. The Newport Symposium, presented by The Preservation Society of Newport County, is New England’s preeminent convening of national and international experts in the fine and decorative arts.
May
Preservation Society Lecture: The Beauty & Joy Of Color – History of the Peacock Room – May 1st
In his 1882 lecture “The House Beautiful,” Oscar Wilde urged American audiences to reform their lives by redecorating their houses, and he presented the Peacock Room—the infamous London interior by expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler—as a model to emulate. Dr. Lee Glazer, Curator of American Art at the Freer/Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC, will trace the story of the room’s creation, its place in the history of the Aesthetic movement, and its lingering afterlife in the twentieth century and beyond.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10 / General Public $15. Purchase tickets online or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
Aquidneck Island National Police Parade: May 6th
Volvo Ocean Race Newport Stopover: May 8th – 20th
The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race is the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started in Alicante, Spain and will conclude in The Hague, Netherlands.At the stopovers, teams will have premium bases to interact with the fans.
Nantucket Wine & Food Festival: May 16th – 20th
An Island tradition since 1996, The Nantucket Wine & Food Festival is known as one of the nation’s most celebrated wine and food events. Whether participating as a luminary, sponsor, volunteer, or attendee, people from across the globe flock to the island of Nantucket every spring to be part of this exquisite annual event. The festival engages the island community and embraces the unique island style.
47th Annual Figawi Race Weekend – Nantucket – May 25th – 28th
The 47th Annual Figawi Race Weekend is recognized as a top sailing event not only on the east coast, but nationally as well as internationally. Figawi Race Weekend kicks off the the Cape Cod and Nantucket summer season. Entries include over 200 sailboats ranging from families promoting the sport of sailing to competitive sailors alike, bringing three thousand sailors & visitors hailing from all over the country including the Caribbean, as well as locals.
June
164th Annual New York Yacht Club Regatta: June 8th – 10th
Newport Bermuda Race: June 15th
The 635-mile biennial Newport Bermuda Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, one of very few international distance races, and (with the Transpac Race) one of just two of the world’s regularly scheduled races held almost entirely out of sight of land.
Newport Flower Show: June 22nd – 24th
Gilded Age “cottages” were built with every convenience, designed for entertaining and to represent a lifestyle. Today’s cottages, much like their gilded ancestors, are also about lifestyle. Join us to celebrate the tiniest of homes, which are smart in both technology and style. Their adjacent gardens are equally thoughtful, livable spaces, both functional and beautiful.
2018 Newport Flower Show tickets now on sale.
July
4th of July Fireworks: July 4th
The Newport 4th of July Fireworks will go off at 9:15pm on Wednesday, July 4th. The fireworks are shot over Newport Harbor from the point at Fort Adams.
Prime viewing locations are on Newport Harbor, Fort Adams, King Park, all along the waterfront, West Deck, Dockside, Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina & Sky Bar at the Clarke Cook House.
Newport-Shimoda SISTER CITY Celebration Sunset Soireé: (July 14, 2018)
Join us for the Newport-Shimoda Sister City Celebration Sunset Soireé at the Rotunda of Easton’s Beach at 6:30pm. Come dressed in your Newport summer chic attire. $75 per person. Only in Newport theme with proceeds going to the Shimoda, Japan Sister City Scholarship Program benefiting students from Rogers High School. Enjoy culinary delights from our local chefs and dance the night away along our beautiful coastline.
Candy Store Cup Superyacht Regatta 2018: July 26th – 28th
The Candy Store Cup 2018 Superyacht Regatta is hosted and organized by Newport Shipyard and Bannister’s Wharf and will take place July 26-28, 2018 in Newport, RI. The Candy Store Cup carries forward the tradition of the Newport Bucket and invites yachts over 90′ LOA to race.
Newport Folk Festival: July 27th – 29th
Newport BridgeFest: July 30 – August 2nd
For the second year, Newport Festivals Foundation presents BridgeFest, which “bridges” the days between the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. Celebrate folk, jazz and Newport’s musical community.
August
Newport Jazz Festival: August 3rd – 5th
A Weekend of Coaching: August 16th – 19th
Authentic 19th century coaches drawn by matched and highly-trained teams of horses visit Newport every three years for a Weekend of Coaching, hosted by The Preservation Society of Newport County.
September
Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival: September 20th – 23rd
The Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival has been called the best wine fest in the country. Signature events include the two-day Grand Tasting with hundreds of wines and celebrity chef demonstrations; the Wine & Rosecliff Gala; Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner; the Vintner Dinner, a Sunday Jazz Brunch, food and wine seminars, and the Newport After Dark Party.
November
Newport Restaurant Week: November 2nd – 11th
More than 50 participating restaurants offer extraordinary three-course prix fixe lunches for $16 and three-course prix fixe dinners for $35.
December
Christmas at the Newport Mansions: December 2018
Christmas at the Newport Mansions, an annual celebration by The Preservation Society of Newport County that delights visitors and helps to create unforgettable family memories, is a must for the holidays in Newport, RI. The Breakers, The Elms and Marble House will each be decorated with beautiful trees, ornaments, fresh flowers, and evergreens through January 1st.
