For four days every October, Newport trades its sailing sweaters for driving gloves. Audrain Motor Week brings more than a thousand collectors, designers, and enthusiasts to Aquidneck Island for a run of concours lawns, auctions, harbourside tastings, and seminars hosted by people whose names you already know. The 2026 edition runs Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4 — and it arrives with a new supercar concours and a global award to its name. Here is what is happening, where it is happening, how to get around, and where to stay when the hotels on Thames Street fill up months ahead.
What Is Audrain Motor Week?
Audrain Motor Week — formally the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week — is a four-day celebration of the automobile staged across Newport’s mansions, forts, and waterfront by the Audrain Automobile Museum on Bellevue Avenue.
It started small and grew fast. In November 2025 it was named Motoring Event of the Year at the International Historic Motoring Awards in London, joining a winners list that includes the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Organisers call it the Concours of the East, and the description has stopped sounding like marketing.
What makes it work is the setting. There is no purpose-built showground here. The cars park on Doris Duke’s lawn at Rough Point, roll down Bellevue Avenue past the Gilded Age cottages, and finish inside the granite walls of Fort Adams with the harbour behind them.
Best for: Collectors, design nerds, couples who want a long weekend with texture, and multi-generational groups where not everyone cares about cars.
What to expect: More than 180 historically significant automobiles on Concours Sunday, competing across 25 classes for the Willie K. Vanderbilt Trophy and Best of Show. Seminars with Jay Leno, Rod Emory, Spike Feresten, and Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen. Early-October weather that is usually crisp, clear, and about fifteen degrees kinder than August.
The 2026 Audrain Motor Week Schedule, Day by Day
The full programme is ticketed by event rather than sold as a single pass, so most people build their own week. Here is how the four days lay out. (Times are as published and can shift — check the official schedule before you finalise anything.)
Thursday, October 1 — The Opening
The week opens gently. The Broad Arrow Auction preview runs 10am to 5pm at the Von Auersperg Building at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and it is worth an hour even if you have no intention of bidding.
The Audrain Hat Luncheon takes over Rough Point from 11am, and Wine By The Water pours at 41° North from 2pm with the harbour right there. The inaugural Supercar Tour arrives at Fort Adams mid-afternoon after a fifty-mile run through Rhode Island’s best roads.
Friday, October 2 — The Gathering
Friday belongs to The Gathering at Rough Point, 11am to 4pm — a lawn party on Doris Duke’s oceanfront estate with rare automobiles, motorcycles, and a food-and-drink lineup drawn from across New England. The dress code is listed as elegant lawn party, and people take it seriously.
The Motor Week Village opens at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Broad Arrow Auction goes live at 4pm, and the evening ends with Whisky By The Water at The Reef from 7pm.
Saturday, October 3 — Two Concours and a Gala
The busiest day of the week, and the one to plan carefully.
- Cars & Coffee at Fort Adams, 7:30–9:30am — the most relaxed event of the week
- Audrain Tour d’Elegance, 8–11am, starting at Second Beach and finishing at the Audrain Automobile Museum
- Audrain Supercar Concours at Fort Adams, 10am–3pm — brand new for 2026, with more than 75 of the rarest supercars and hypercars of the last thirty years
- Bellevue Car Display, 11am–1:30pm, on Bellevue Avenue itself
- Hilltop Hangout at Newport Craft Brewery, 2–6pm — live music, sunset, considerably fewer blazers
- Audrain Casino Royale Gala at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, 6:30pm — black tie, ticketed separately
The Supercar Concours is the genuine news this year. It is the first time Motor Week has run two concours in one weekend, and the first event of its kind in North America dedicated purely to supercars and hypercars.
Sunday, October 4 — Concours Sunday
Everything builds to this. Coffee at the Concours opens at Fort Adams at 6:30am, yoga on the lawn follows at 7:30am, and the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance runs 8:30am to 4pm.
Note the venue change: the Concours d’Elegance is at Fort Adams State Park in 2026, not on The Breakers lawn where it was held in 2025. Judging follows a French-influenced format, weighing how each car expresses Newport’s own three themes — history, luxury, and sport.
Where to Stay During Audrain Motor Week in Newport
Here is the practical problem. Motor Week lands on a Columbus Day-adjacent weekend at the tail of leaf season, and Newport’s hotel inventory is finite. Rooms go early, rates climb, and if you are travelling with four couples or three generations you end up scattered across three properties on different streets.
A house solves that. Everyone under one roof, a kitchen for the 6am Concours Sunday start, a living room to compare notes in at midnight, and parking you do not have to circle Thames Street hunting for.
We manage more than 100 properties across Newport and Middletown, and Motor Week guests tend to want one of three things:
Walkable to Bellevue and the Village
Historic Hill and the Bellevue Avenue corridor put you within a short walk of the Audrain Automobile Museum, the Motor Week Village at the Tennis Hall of Fame, the Bellevue Car Display, and the Saturday gala. If you would rather not drive at all during the week, this is the area to target.
Oceanfront, near Rough Point and the Cliff Walk
Properties along the Ocean Drive and Cliff Walk side put The Gathering at Rough Point within reach and give you the Atlantic out the window. Our luxury vacation rentals in Newport RI concentrate here — estate-scale homes, designer interiors, stocked kitchens, the kind of place where the after-party happens on your own terrace.
Middletown and Second Beach, for space and easier parking
Middletown sits minutes from Newport but trades traffic for elbow room. The Tour d’Elegance starts at Second Beach on Saturday morning, which is a genuinely pleasant thing to have on your doorstep.
Browse Newport vacation rentals →
Brianna and Marielle grew up here, and our concierge team knows which restaurants take Motor Week reservations six weeks out and which ones will not seat eight people on a Saturday no matter how nicely you ask. Tell us what your week looks like and we will help you build around it.
Parking, Trolleys, and Getting Around Newport During Motor Week
Audrain runs free parking lots and free trolley loops for the duration, which is the single most useful thing to know about the week.
Parking is first come, first served, and free for guests of the event:
- Easton’s Beach (175 Memorial Blvd) — Thursday 10am–8pm, Friday 8am–6pm, Saturday 8am–4pm
- Brenton Point State Park (Ocean Drive) — Friday 10am–5pm
- Fort Adams (80 Fort Adams Dr) — Saturday 7am–4pm, Sunday 5am–4pm
Trolleys loop between Perrotti Park, Easton’s Beach, the Audrain Automobile Museum, Rough Point, and Fort Adams throughout the week, running as early as 6:30am on Concours Sunday and as late as 11:30pm on Friday for the Whisky By The Water crowd.
Two pieces of local advice. First, Fort Adams parking on Sunday opens at 5am for a reason — the queue on Fort Adams Drive is real, and the trolley from Perrotti Park is often faster than driving in. Second, downtown Newport’s one-way grid does not forgive experimentation on a busy Saturday. Park once, then walk or ride.
What Else to Do in Newport in Early October
Not everyone in your group will want four days of cars, and October is arguably Newport’s best month regardless.
The Cliff Walk’s 3.5-mile oceanfront path is at its finest in autumn — clear air, no August crowds, the mansions on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The Breakers, Marble House, and The Elms stay open through the season, and Rough Point is worth a return visit once the cars have gone.
Thames Street and Bowen’s Wharf are walkable and busy without being overwhelmed, the harbour is still full of boats, and Ocean Drive at golden hour is a ten-mile loop that justifies renting something interesting to drive it in.
For anyone who wants to be on the water, October sailing off Newport is crisp and often glorious. Our team can arrange a charter, a mansion tour, or a table somewhere that does not appear on the first page of search results.
Frequently Asked Questions About Audrain Motor Week
When is Audrain Motor Week 2026?
Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week 2026 runs Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4, 2026, in Newport, Rhode Island. Events are spread across the city, with the Concours d’Elegance on the final day. A members’ preview at the Audrain Automobile Museum takes place on Wednesday, September 30.
Where is the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance held in 2026?
The 2026 Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance takes place at Fort Adams State Park, 80 Fort Adams Drive, Newport, on Sunday, October 4, from 8:30am to 4pm. This is a change from 2025, when the Concours was held on the lawn at The Breakers. The new Audrain Supercar Concours is also at Fort Adams, on Saturday, October 3.
Is Audrain Motor Week open to the public?
Yes. Motor Week includes a mix of public, ticketed, and members-only events. The Bellevue Car Display and Cars & Coffee at Fort Adams are open to the public, while the Concours d’Elegance, The Gathering, Whisky By The Water, and the Casino Royale Gala are ticketed individually. Tickets are on sale now at audrainconcours.com and popular events sell out.
Where should I stay during Audrain Motor Week in Newport?
Newport hotels book out early for Motor Week weekend, so a vacation rental is usually the better option — especially for groups. Staying on Historic Hill or near Bellevue Avenue puts you within walking distance of the Audrain Automobile Museum and Motor Week Village, while Ocean Drive and Middletown properties offer more space and easier parking. Stay Newport manages more than 100 properties across Newport and Middletown for exactly this kind of weekend.
Is parking free during Audrain Motor Week?
Yes. Audrain provides free event parking at Easton’s Beach, Brenton Point State Park, and Fort Adams, all on a first come, first served basis, with hours varying by day. Free trolley loops connect the parking lots to Rough Point, the Audrain Automobile Museum, and Fort Adams throughout the week. Arrive early on Concours Sunday, when the Fort Adams lot opens at 5am.
What should I wear to the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance?
The published dress code for the Concours d’Elegance is Newport chic, with a blazer preferred. The Gathering at Rough Point calls for elegant lawn party attire, and the Casino Royale Gala is formal. Early October in Newport is cool and often breezy on the water, so bring a layer and shoes you can stand on grass in all day.
Make Newport Your Base for Audrain Motor Week
Audrain Motor Week is one of the few weekends where Newport is fully itself — historic, social, a little bit showing off, and genuinely welcoming. The cars are the reason to come, but the harbour mornings and the October light are what people remember.
Book early. Motor Week weekend is one of the first to go on our calendar, and the larger homes go first. Whether you need a walkable townhouse for two or an oceanfront estate for sixteen, we will help you find the right one and make the week easy.
Browse all available Newport vacation rentals → or get in touch with our team.
