Celtic Rock Festival

This is the third year in a row that friends and I have attended this event, and it has been consistently great! As a professional event planner myself, I can honestly say that it is one of the most well run public events I have ever attended. The location is pleasant, directions are easy, there are plenty of food and beer stations, restrooms, garbage cans, etc. As for the music itself, the performers are always fun and talented - we especially love Gaelic Storm! Thank you for such a wonderful experience!

Entire Venue was fantastic every band that played both my husband & I really enjoyed thought Celtica Pipes Rock should Open for The Dropkick Murphy's next year hope they play again it was just all in all a wonderful night. My only complaint needed Authentic irish food though the pulled pork tacos & strawberry shortcake were absolutely delicious.

The acts were great and of Tartan Terrors and Gaelic Storm were awesome!!!! not many Vendors this but over all we had a great time.

Music was great. Just boring because there were so few vendors and really no irish food there either unlike past times.

I have seen over 500 concerts and this was by far the absolute best value I have ever experienced. Venue was great... Crowd was well behaved and 5 of the 6 bands were amazing. They did a great job of varying the acts so that every performance was different enough, compelling and lead into the next act. Eileen Ivers & Gaelic Storm put on mind blowing performances. Celtica, Tartan Terrors and Fighting Jamesons set up the entire day. Did not care for Black 47 (or whatever their name was) They were too "aging Brooklyn hipster" trying way too hard to be cool. I do want to thank them because we left during their performance and did a nice Newport walk around for a few hours.

Poor food selection and inadequate seating arrangement. Pogey would make an excellent replacement for Black47

Awesome show, the bands were great. Not enough food vendors, and the one that had Irish fare ran out early in the afternoon. The $75.00 we paid for the snug tickets were so not worth it. We will be back next year for the festival, but will never purchase the snug tickets again.

The show was amazing!!! The bands were fantastic, especially Gaelic storm and Aileen Iver!!!! We were jamming all day and night! Great atmosphere on the pier and lovely surroundings, food was awesome and the little bars on the deck added fun!! Highly recommended event!!

Lasted from noon to 10pm, great sets the whole way through! The drink line was never long, and the ability to enter & exit as you please was grand. Highly recommend if you like Celtic Rock music!!

We have been going to Newport's Irish festival for years. We were so disappointed in the short playing time from the Groups, only a few vendors, the acoustics of the tent which Was so loud you had to stand outside of the tent to clearly hear the music Won't be going back again!

Great time. More seating outside this year was a great idea.

Had a great time. The acts, particularly the Dropkick Murphy's were amazing. All the people there were very friendly and all, young and old, really got into the music!!

I love this festival! My husband and I try to make it every year. Eileen Ivers band are our favorites. The ultimate in professionalism and musical talent! The food could be better, however. Reminds me of food at a carnival Ben and Jerrys was awesome, though! Not stingy with the alcohol in the mixed drinks! Love trying their featured cocktails!

Third time we've enjoyed this event and great time every time! The sound system gave The Town Pants a better run for their money this year and their playlist had a better mix of their rollicking music. Screaming Orphans were the best band this time around; if only they would record a live version of their best music!! We've bought 3 of their CD's in hopes of catching their drummer's passion and electricity that is theirs alone (go girls!) but they sound too Cranberry for me. Keep trying- love your spirit! MIssed Tartan Terrorsj and would enjoy Pogey again. Kudos for getting Dropkick Murphy's but they are not my kind of band. Plenty came to see them Sat. Night though. Overall great show.

The Newport Celtic Rock Festival was amazing. The bands were phenomenal......from Celtica, who performed 1st, to Dropkick Murphys, who ended the day. There were great vendors and a lot of good food choices too. We got the SNUG package that included a ticket, a t-shirt, 2 free drink vouchers, reserved deck seating, and a goodie bag with gifts inside. We will definitely be back next year.

Lots of variety of artists and they were all great! Great environment as well.

I always love going to the Irish/Celtic rock festival...I've been going for quite a few years...this year was just the best as Dropkick was invited...I love seeing them. I usually go once a year to their Boston St. Paddy's Day show so to see them a second time this year was awesome!

Always love the Screaming Orphans and Eileen Ivers and adding the Dropkick Murphys this year brought in a new generation....including my own 20 somethings. Absolutely loved the addition of Celtica Pipes too. Only thing I would suggest is to cancel the Town Pants..the group has new people each year and this year they were a flop. I noticed more and more people leaving the tent. Maybe start out milder with Eileen Ivers and then get to the rock. We enjoyed a group a few years back called the Kildares and I believe they were from TX or bring back the Titan Terrors or Callie McCrane. Can't wait for next year.

I always enjoyed the Newport Irish Festival and looked forward to the Celtic Rock Festival. However, I found this music too much hard rock which resembled very little the Celtic music that I enjoy. I won't be going to this festival next year. Bring back the Irish Festival.

Screaming Orphans played the best set I have ever seen by any band. They got the audience up from zero to a hundred miles an hour in seconds flat.

The music was played terribly, the food wasn't even close to being Irish and it was an overall terrible experience.

Celtica (new to the festival) is a great, rockin' pipe band. So solid & fun with the best "Amazing Grace" we've ever heard. Screaming Orphans & Town were on & terrific too. Then Eileen Ivers & Band ~ just awesome; inspiring & joyful. The musical entertainment concluded with Dropkick Murphys. Solid but had to leave before favorite tune, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", which we presumed they played. By that hour the audience changed the momentum of the day, but the band does draw a lot more people. Nice to see the Nevin Irish Dancers & have some good brews on the beautiful water. Sorry to see some of the finer craftsman not there amongst the vendors. But the festival is worth every penny!

Opening bands were all good except the Screaming Orphans. Crowd wasn't the usual for a Dropkick Murphys show so the atmosphere was a little off but the show was still very good. The venue was bigger than I expected and the ability to come and go was nice since it gave us the chance to explore Newport to kill some time.

Celtica should have performed closer to the Dropkick Murphys - They had a much more aggressive vibe than those who performed in between them. It made those bands in the middle seem that much less "rockin"

As a giant dropkicks fan I must say I was very disappointed in their performance, and I blame it on the organization that put on the event. There's no doubt in my mind the dropkicks were pressured to play all their slower song as to not upset the yuppie Newport crowd. Hello, this is a punk band!! There should be banging around, moshing, and crowd surfing! That's what I paid for! That's part of the experience. Needless to say I'll never attend your event again. I look forward to seeing the dropkicks at another venue where they can play the music their fans want to hear. Cory

Great concert!! Dropkick Murphy's were great, loved the Town Pants too! Please do it again next year!