Center Aquidneck is presenting the first annual Jane’s Walk Newport Festival on May 4 and 5. Jane’s Walk is an international movement of free, neighbor-led walking conversations inspired by 20th-century urbanist Jane Jacobs and carried out by curious and concerned communities around the world. The festival encourages people to share stories about their neighborhoods, discover unseen aspects of their communities, and use walking as a way to connect with neighbors.

Jed Hancock-Brainerd and Rebecca Noon, founding directors of Center Aquidneck and the Jane’s Walk Newport Festival, have produced a wide variety of performance pieces over the past ten years under the name of their former company, Strange Attractor. After attending the Providence Jane’s Walk Festival last year, they were inspired to produce a Newport Jane’s Walk Festival, bringing Newporters together to tell the stories of our neighborhoods.

“Of course, Newport is full of history,” says Noon. “What’s great about a Jane’s Walk Festival is that you don’t have to be an expert in anything academic or historical to lead a walk. You just need a question or observation you’d like to think about with your neighbors. We’re all experts in our own lives, and that’s often where the most interesting stories come from.”

To get the word out to potential walk leaders, Center Aquidneck partnered with newportFILM and the Newport Art Museum in February to host a documentary about Jane Jacobs called Citizen Jane, along with a brief conversation after.

"It’s been great to meet the people who want to lead walks," says Hancock Brainerd. “There is such diverse expertise and experience all around us. I’m looking forward to sharing the walks the walk leaders are creating with people who come out with us.”

All Jane’s Walks are free of charge and under 90 min. They range in topics from understanding our watershed to changes in neighborhoods to the mystery of sidewalks.

To learn more and find a full schedule and list of themes, click here.