The Newport Jazz Festival is heading back to Fort Adams State Park in Rhode Island for its 72nd edition, running July 31 through August 2 with one of its most wide-ranging lineups in years. The 2026 festival will be produced by the Newport Festival Foundation in collaboration with newly appointed Artistic Director Nate Smith, who is taking over after Christian McBride’s decade-long run.
This year’s Newport Jazz Festival lineup
This year’s bill blends jazz legends, contemporary innovators and genre-crossing artists across the three-day event. The lineup includes Kamasi Washington & Chief Adjuah, Vulfpeck, Jonathan Batiste Trios, Thundercat, Gary Clark Jr., Lake Street Dive, Robert Glasper feat. Bilal & Ari Lennox, Leon Thomas, Sienna Spiro, Little Simz, Cory Wong with Joshua Redman, Flea and the Honora Band, Angine de Poitrine, Snarky Puppy, Nate Smith, Arlo Parks, Mei Semones, and many more artists!
View the full lineup on the official festival site.
Celebrating 100 years of jazz icons
A centerpiece of this year’s program will be “Celebrating 100 Years of Coltrane & Miles,” a special anniversary performance honoring two of jazz’s most influential figures. That set, along with appearances from both legends and rising voices, reflects the festival’s balance of history and discovery.
“Fans and artists alike return each year to this hallowed ground to experience the joy of this Festival’s long running tradition of diversity, discovery and artistic virtuosity,” the festival said in announcing the event. It also noted that the 2026 edition continues a stretch of consecutive sellouts, underscoring Newport’s enduring draw.
Newport Jazz will again offer a limited Jazz Lounge ticket option, which includes a separate entrance, premium parking and access to a tented lounge overlooking the Fort Stage. The festival is also reminding fans to buy only through official channels and to avoid secondary-market listings that may not be valid.
