What makes Newport Folk Festival so special? It’s a question that, cialis even after attending this weekend’s 55th iteration, might not have a clear answer. The answer doesn’t solely lie in a history lesson about Dylan going electric or its importance as America’s first festival. It may not even be specifically be about legacy and tradition, either — though there are always reminders about both scattered throughout Fort Adams State Park.

But it was special. Here are the moments that created that goosebumps-giving, hair-raising feeling:

That feeling when walking up the tunnel from the Harbor Stage to the Quad Stage and feeling one distinct song bleed into another and reveling in the reminder that there is an overwhelming amount of music.

Ryan Adams looking in wonder and remarking at sailboats scattered along the waterfront as the sun set. His stage banter — like when he kept teasing that a fictitious band was coming up after him or when he led the Fort Stage crowd into the most awful-yet-hilarious “Let It Be” cover — was almost as good as his career-spanning set.

There was a tear-evoking cover of “Goodnight, Irene” from Jack White and friends closing out day two. Love him or hate him, White poured his heart and soul into the performance, and the crowd was eager to sing along.

Mavis Staples celebrating her 75th birthday with a headlining set — and making appearances on other stages all weekend long.

Looking around the festival grounds, where blankets are de-facto reserved seats and not something to be disregarded, and seeing many walks of life. Seeing young parents with children as young as one or two years old, and thinking to yourself damn, what cool parents. Seeing older folks park their chairs at the fort stage and settle in for music, perhaps, they’ve never heard before.

Newport debuts — like White and Adams — are also a big part of what makes the festival so special. The artists are universally humbled to take part even if it does equal losing money for big artists.

Acts like Noah Gundersen, who made his first appearance on Friday, conjuring emotion with his stirring buildup rendition of “Poor Man’s Son.”

Or Sunday’s breakout star Hozier, attracting so many people to a very small stage. Two great songs: a full-band rendition of “To Be Alone” and the quietly beautiful “Work Song,” where Hozier was joined by the Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir.

Shakey Graves’ Newport debut was so strong. The beautifully addictive lead single from his new record And The War Came “Dearly Departed” got the crowd clapping.

There were acts that don’t necessarily fit the preconceived notions of what folk music is. No, there is no EDM tent with DJ’s partying long into the night (we can keep it that way, even if EDM somehow becomes the only marketable genre, right? Please?). I suffered a bout of FOMO when I got frantic texts from a friend about Reignwolf, who almost brought the Quad Stage down with his energy. Benjamin Booker (above) warned the audience they weren’t about to see a folk show. It wasn’t until an impassioned, four-minute breakdown on “Have You Seen My Son?” where Booker fell to the stage wailing on the guitar that he got the 2 p.m. Saturday crowd to its feet, but he succeeded at winning the crowd over. His debut album is out in August.

There were the early morning sets that woke a sleepy crowd up: like Tall Tall Trees — who, by being first to play at the festival, joked he’d be the best thing people saw so far by default. His set was great and filled with impressive looping effects.

Willie Watson’s straight folk songs, mostly covers, were an enjoyable morning. He crafted the easiest singalong possible: having the Harbor stage crowd say “Uh-huh” after every line in the infectious “Stewball.”

Sunday morning’s performance by Ages and Ages had one of those goosebumps-giving moments when a Berklee Gospel and Roots Choir joined the band onstage for a crowd singalong of “Divisionary (Do The Right Thing).”

Seeing festival curator Jay Sweet, clad in a rad-but-gaudy-any-other-day shirt with a banjo stitch design on the back, turn around during Trampled By Turtles set to see people of all ages viably losing their shit to the band’s blend of bluegrass and punk — and being so in awe he runs out and high fives them.

Speaking of Sweet, so much of what happened this weekend can be attributed to him — though he’s willing to deflect it on the people. And to an extent he is right — a kind person on Sunday gave away beer tokens in the beer garden. Everyone was respectful of another’s space. I saw no security presence throwing people out. Benjamin Booker noted that it was the first show where he didn’t see people falling over drunk (folks will take that as a compliment). Jack White said it was the only festival he’s been to where people left him alone when he went to listen to music. But Sweet put together this lineup — with input from others, naturally — but it was so solid through and through.

Perhaps most importantly, fans and artists alike were truly invested in it. It’s hard to describe. But both parties are truly there for the music. There surely are side-attractions: vendor booths, games in the beer garden, but front-and-center and the purpose of being there was the music.

In an interview with Rolling Stone this month, Jay Sweet said he had pondered the idea of going with a completely secret lineup. “We’ve actually flirted with the idea,” he told the magazine. “You’d literally walk on site, and you would be handed ‘Here’s today’s schedule.’ I want to reward the people that trust us.”

Trust. Maybe that’s Newport’s special ingredient. If next year’s lineup is just as good as this year’s, and trust that it will be, a lineup is unnecessary to plunk down $215 to go to the 2015 Newport Folk Fest.