Surprise, Newport: Black Ships Festival Moves To Bristol For 2018

BRISTOL, RI—After decades in Newport, the Black Ships Festival is moving to Bristol this July. Chris Vitale, Bristol's economic development coordinator, confirmed the Japan-America Society contacted Bristol last year about the change of location.

"We have been planning this since last year," he said, and added the community development office became involved last December. A couple of events will still be held in Newport, he said, but the idea is to make the festival bigger and better in Bristol. The society was looking for a partner, he said.

That may be news in Newport, though, where the Daily News on Tuesday reported Newport will also hold a Black Ships Festival to start on July 12. The Bristol event starts on July 13. Newport's slightly renamed event starts on July 13. According to the newspaper story, the Japan-America Society has put the City on notice not to use Black Ships in the name of its festival because it would be a trademark violation. But the City has gone forward and announced the City of Newport Black Ships Festival.

Mayor Harry Winthrop said the society can do as it sees fit, but he believes such a lawsuit would be frivolous. Newport will continue to hold its own Black Ships Festival, in any case.

Patrick Conley, member of the Japan-America Society board, confirmed a lawsuit is in the works over the trademark infringement and the infringement on the society's corporate name, which is the Japan-America Society and Black Ships Festival of Rhode Island. It was established in 1983. Dr. Conley said he suggested moving the festival to Bristol after problems developed with Mayor Winthrop.

"It's nothing against Newport," he said. "It's one person."

The mayor has denied Conley's allegations. Yes, he did cut off funding, he said. The reason was because the society repeatedly failed to provide an accounting about how the money from Newport was spent. The amount was $4,000. But it would be the same issue if it had been $40, the mayor said. He has a responsibility to the taxpayers of Newport. Plus, someone informed him that the society had used some of the Newport money to pay airfare for its president, who lives in Arizona. That wasn't illegal, Mayor Winthrop said, but he objected to city money being used for someone out of state. Still, if the society had provided the accounting information and agreed to stop spending Newport's money on airfare for its president, everything could have kept going.

But ultimately, the society decided to make the move to Bristol, and the mayor said he saw an opportunity to get back to basics. Now is a chance to make the festival bigger and better and more affordable for locals, he said. It was becoming a Providence festival.

Mayor Winthrop and Dr. Conley disagree about the link between the festival and the Sister City program.

The late Robert McKenna, former Newport Mayor, chose Shimoda as Newport's Sister City because that is the port where Newporter Matthew Perry arrived, Conley said. But otherwise, the Sister City program is separate from the Black Ships Festival, which is held in honor of the first trade treaty between Japan and the U.S.

That's not right, Mayor Winthrop said. Shimoda and Newport became sister cities back in 1956, two years after President Eisenhower started the Sister Cities program. Mayor Henry C. Wilkinson was in office. Later, some 35 years ago, the Black Ships Festival started. The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the connection between Newport and Shimoda as well as to commemorate the historic trade agreement.

Vitale said the focus right now is on making sure this year's festival "goes off without a hitch," but when asked if the Black Ships Festival will continue in Bristol in future years, he said the Town would be open to that. The council contributed $5,000 for the arts and crafts fair part of the festival, and the hope is, the Bristol location will make the festival more of a statewide event.

"It has been around, and yeah, it was held in Newport," he said. "But the organization is statewide. One of the things they're hoping to do is expand their reach, so Providence and East Bay are more involved." One of the events, for example, involves students from Classical High in Providence.

"We're excited to put it on," Vitale said. "We've had nothing but good experiences" with the society.

Two events (the wreath laying at Perry's tomb inside Island Cemetery and the rides aboard the Aurora) will continue in Newport, Vitale said, but the other events will be at Independence Park in Bristol and at the Herreshoff Museum's waterside tent.

"We're honored," he said.

Courtesy Photo Caption: Capt. Dennis Boyer, commanding officer, Naval Station Newport and Ryo Nakamura, chief administrative officer, Toray Plastics (America) Inc., take part in a wreath-laying ceremony during the 34th Annual Black Ships Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Presented by the Japan-America Society of Rhode Island, the festival is an educational and entertaining cultural exchange that honors Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the establishment of friendly trade relations between the United States and Japan in 1854. Perry, a Newport native, negotiated the treaty and brought the two countries together as trading partners for the first time in history.

Courtesy Photo Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jess Lewis/released