City a destination even in winter

STARTING YOUNG: A key event in the Newport Winter Festival is the Children’s Fair, which takes place at the Newport Marriott. / COURTESY NEWPORT WINTER FESTIVAL
STARTING YOUNG: A key event in the Newport Winter Festival is the Children’s Fair, which takes place at the Newport Marriott. / COURTESY NEWPORT WINTER FESTIVAL

Twenty-five years ago, the Newport Winter Festival was just a concept drummed up by local businesses, what was then known as the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau and a pair of tourism-industry insiders, that the group collectively hoped would put the city on a winter-holiday map.
Today, it’s a 10-day celebration of all things the Ocean State has to offer during the offseason with a list of 150 events, sold-out hotels, and special attractions that regularly draw some 30,000 people from across New England.
“I would like to tell you it was just our idea but it wasn’t. Businesses said we really needed to do something and they were right,” said David Rosenberg, founder of Marketing and Events Inc., which runs the festival and helped kick it off all those years ago with Evan Smith, now the president and CEO of Discover Newport, which last year rebranded from the CVB name.
“The original idea was to let people know that Newport is very much alive and well. What really has happened over the past 25 years is that we’ve been able to draw an enormous amount of people in the dead of winter when we’re competing with ski and Disney [vacations],” Rosenberg said.
The 25th annual Newport Winter Festival takes place Feb. 15 to Feb. 24 during what for many is a school-vacation week.
“It’s always aligned with the school-break week to maximize it for family exposure and things to do,” said Smith.
The festival officially begins on Friday, Feb. 15, the beginning of the Valentine’s Day weekend that offers an additional draw to the city and its many upscale hotels and restaurants. It starts with a series of events, including tours of Fort Adams and Newport Storm Brewery and a chance to make your own perfume at Newport Aromatherapy, among many others.
Though many happenings similar to these can be found throughout the event’s 10-day calendar, things really get going once the festival’s signature events start taking place. That begins this year with the 18th annual Samuel Adams Chili Cook-Off, where restaurants, as well as the Newport Fire Department, compete to claim they have the best chili in town. Other featured events this year include a performance by Draw The Line, the endorsed Aerosmith Tribute Show at the Hyatt Regency Newport on Saturday, Feb. 16, the Winter Festival Comedy Show at the Hotel Viking on Friday, Feb. 22, the third annual Chicken Wing Cook-Off at the Hyatt Regency on Saturday, Feb. 23, and a performance by Beatlemania at the Hyatt Regency that same day.
Another key event is the Children’s Fair, with Radio Disney at the Newport Marriott on Sunday and Monday Feb. 17 and 18, that features music and live entertainment, as well as balloon creations, face painting, arts & crafts.
There also are wine and beer dinners, a tropical-drink contest at the Gas Lamp Grille, and many other child-friendly options, including a children’s jazz event at Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth.
“In the early years, which were pre-children for me, we focused more on the drink contests and other adult events and people were saying you need to have more things for children,” Rosenberg said.
Much has changed, Rosenberg said, within the event. When it first was held there was some trouble generating community and business interest, though some saw the benefits right away.
Brick Alley Pub owner Matt Plumb said his Thames Street restaurant has participated all of the festival’s 25 years. He offers those who purchase a $9 festival button a sample of his famous nachos when they visit the pub and order a drink.
Visitors are typically from New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. There also is a strong interest among Rhode Island residents who come to Newport in the winter to take advantage of thinner crowds and less-expensive lodging.
“Probably more Rhode Islanders participate in this than almost any other event year-round,” Smith said. “They look at it as a time when they can enjoy their own city.” •

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