Newport Festivals Foundation has established the Newport Festivals Musician Relief Fund to provide financial relief to musicians in the folk and jazz communities experiencing a loss of income as a result of COVID-19, through rapid micro and full grants. The focus and priority of the fund is on artists who have played the Newport Jazz or Folk Festivals and those in the Rhode Island community; all other applications will be considered on a case by case basis.

"It is with utmost hope that the Newport Folk and Newport Jazz Festivals will go on this summer, but in the meantime we feel the call to do more," says Newport Festivals Executive Producer Jay Sweet. "We are in a unique position with our foundation, where we can go above and beyond and help provide support for our musicians community while other tours and festivals are cancelling due to COVID-19. I want to be clear, this is not a fundraiser, these are funds that our Festivals Foundation already allocates to annual giving. In this dark time, we feel blessed to be able to provide some small comfort for those whose songs carry us through each day."

Grants will be reviewed on a weekly basis. Those selected will be notified and sent funds as soon as possible. Those not selected will be notified within a week of submission. To apply, visit newportfestivals.org.

The Foundation will also continue to provide support for music education programs through its Artist Donations Initiative, which works directly with festival artists to identify and support music education programs they are passionate about. Since 2018, the initiative has provided over eighty-five grants to music education programs, including instruments for public schools, funding for music instruction workshops for Veterans, Girls Rock Summer camps, after school music lessons for children with learning disabilities, and more.

Vagabon, Yola, and Randy Newman are presently scheduled to perform at the Newport Folk Festival this summer.