Newport Folk Festivals’ Foundation Creates A Coronavirus Relief Fund For Musicians

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, the virus’ aftermath has disrupted the music industry. Nearly every summer festival has been canceled or postponed and musicians are pushing back the dates of their tours and album releases. In order to support musicians who have been financially affected by venue and festival closures, Newport Folk Festival’s parent foundation announced it is setting up a COVID-19 musician relief fund.

Newport Festivals Foundation, which operates the beloved Newport Folk and Jazz festivals, announced a COVID-19 musician relief fund Monday. While many festivals are being postponed, Newport Folk Festival is still scheduled for late July/early August and just announced its lineup last week, seeing headliners like Waxahatchee and Big Thief.

Festival executive producer Jay Sweet explained the foundation’s new relief fund in a statement:

“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. 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.”

The charity includes funding for small micro-grants of $300 or less for immediate and dire financial concerns, as well as full grants offered to help cover lost income related to the virus. The money will be divided on a case-by-case basis. Musicians can apply for relief here.

Read more of Uproxx’s coverage on the coronavirus here.

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