Alex and Ani Returns for Second Year as Newport Folk Fest Harbor Stage Sponsor

July 10, 2012 - PRLog -- NEWPORT, RI – The Newport Festivals Foundation™ and the Newport Folk Festival® welcome the return of Rhode Island-based positive energy, lifestyle brand, Alex and Ani, LLC., as sponsor of the Harbor Stage at the sold out Fort Adams State Park concerts on July 28-29, 2012.

Headquartered in Cranston, RI, with its flagship store in Cranston at Chapel View, Alex and Ani (www.alexandani.com) offers eco-friendly, positive energy products that adorn the body, enlighten the mind and empower the spirit, created by Designer Carolyn Rafaelian, Owner and Founder, and made in America with love. The passion for empowering those in need led Alex and Ani to Charity by Design, a unique initiative focused solely on working with organizations to raise awareness and inspire action. Last year, Rafaelian introduced the LIVE MUSIC Bangle, which encourages inspiration, creativity and tradition. The bangle will be sold at the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals this year, with 20% of its sales supporting the Newport Festivals Foundation.

“We’re thrilled to share the art of jewelry and music with our combined audiences as sponsor of the Harbor Stage,” said Rafaelian.  “To be among last year’s sold-out crowd of 10,000 was incredible, and we look forward to enjoying the music while helping to continue the legacy of the Newport Folk Festival through our partnership and the ongoing sale of our LIVE MUSIC Bangle.”

Jay Sweet, Newport Folk Festival producer, added, “We salute Alex and Ani’s dedication to creating products that promote consciousness and unity, like so much of the music that is heard, and sometimes created, at the Folk Festival. Not only is the jewelry made right here in America using recycled materials, it is also amazing wearable art.”

The Newport Festivals Foundation continues to celebrate the festival’s historic past by featuring emerging young artists alongside some of folk music’s most venerable names. This year’s festival features: My Morning Jacket; Jackson Browne; Conor Oberst; Iron & Wine; Patty Griffin; Guthrie Family Reunion; Dawes; The Head & The Heart;  Deer Tick; Punch Brothers; City & Colour; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; The Tallest Man on Earth; tUnE-yArDs; Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman; Trampled by Turtles; Gary Clark, Jr.; Alabama Shakes; Blind Pilot; Of Monsters and Men; original music from Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames set to the lyrics of Woody Guthrie; Sharon Van Etten; First Aid Kit; Sara Watkins; Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires; Brown Bird; Jonny Corndawg; Jonathan Wilson; Spirit Family Reunion; Deep Dark Woods; Carl Broemel; Ben Sollee; Robert Ellis; Frank Fairfield; The Apache Relay; Spider John Koerner & His Rag Tag Boys; Joel Rafael; Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons; Elizabeth Mitchell; honeyhoney; Sleepy Man Banjo Boys; The Kossoy Sisters; The Berklee City Music Choir; and very special guests to be announced.  

A Friday, July 27, concert featuring Wilco, Blitzen Trapper and Megafaun at Fort Adams has been added to the Festival.  Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit http://www.newportfolkfest.net/wilco/

Alex and Ani’s aesthetic underscores the idea that what is pure and natural is most beautiful. A company founded on awareness, empowerment, inner beauty and the human spirit, each piece is designed to reflect the personality and importance of the wearer. Alex and Ani was created with the unique idea that what you wear, speak wonders about who you are, and what you value as important in life. Alex and Ani celebrates 13 retail locations currently, in Newport, RI; Providence, RI; Cranston, RI; East Greenwich, RI; Boston, MA; Martha's Vineyard, MA; Palm Beach, FL; New York, NY; New Haven, CT; National Harbor, MD; San Francisco, CA; Southampton, NY; Saratoga Springs, NY; and soon to be in Red Bank, NJ and Portsmouth, NH. For more information on Alex and Ani, visit www.alexandani.com.

In addition to the Alex and Ani Harbor Stage, the lifestyle brand will offer their products at the Newport Folk Festival on Saturday and Sunday and at the Newport Jazz Festival August 3 – 5 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino and Fort Adams State Park.

For more information, log on to www.newportfestivalsfoundation.org or www.newportfolkfest.net. For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055.  


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*The 2012 Newport Folk Festival® and Newport Jazz Festival® are productions of Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc., a pending 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation, under license from Festival Productions, Inc. and George Wein; all rights reserved.