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Porchfests Are Musical Festivals Right in Your Neighbor’s Front Yard
This new trend is an inexpensive and casual way to enjoy live music and build community
Porchfests are grassroots music concerts popping up across the U.S. They provide an enjoyable alternative for older music fans who might not want to deal with a big music festival.
Kathleen Fu
Last year, I attended a concert at an unexpected venue: the front of a house in Franklin, Indiana.
The entertainment was a country-rock outfit called Guns for Hire. The stage was a front porch. Around me sat people on folding chairs or blankets, with others standing along the street. And this was just one of many shows that day, on stoops and lawns around this residential neighborhood, part of the town’s Porchober (a combination of “porch” and “October”).
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Such casual, grassroots events are popping up across the U.S. — in places like Wenonah, New Jersey; Edmonds, Washington; and Athens, Georgia — and provide an enjoyable alternative for older music fans who might feel uncomfortable at a large music festival. The best part: Anyone is welcome at a porchfest; you don’t have to live in the neighborhood to enjoy the music.
“As we get older, music festivals tend to be a little insane and crazy,” says Jim Atkinson, 63, singer and guitarist for the Jim Atkinson Band, based in the Boston area. At a porchfest, “it’s totally chill.”
How it started
A gathering in 2007 in Ithaca, New York, claims to be the first Porchfest. Two neighbors rounded up about 20 bands to play outside some homes. By last year, that fest grew to more than 160 musical acts, while also bringing in food vendors. “At the first Porchfest, we didn’t know if musicians would play,” says cofounder Lesley Greene, 56, “or if anyone would show up to listen.” When it all came together, the cohosts could tell they were onto something. Word spread about the concept, and others imported it to their communities. Now there are more than 250 porchfest events taking place annually throughout the United States, with new ones popping up all the time. (Go to porchfest.org/porchfests-elsewhere for a list.)
“Our tagline is ‘All genres, all ages, all free,’ ” says Beth Gould, 66, cofounder of SF Porchfest in San Francisco. Gould and her cofounder Liz Pittinos learned about the event from Gould’s college roommate, who had hosted one in Boston. Porchfest is “a way for people from all walks of life to mingle and enjoy music outdoors,” she says. “There’s no other motive.”
How it’s going
The majority of porchfests are free for attendees and run on shoestring budgets. Musicians, who range from acoustic acts to jazz bands to rockers, might get a small stipend or solicit tips, but mostly they play for the exposure. Some are small affairs with a dozen or so acts, while others have grown to feature hundreds of performers.
And in communities without front porches? Backyards, driveways and neighborhood parks can also serve as stages.
“It’s all very low-key,” says Atkinson, who played his first two porchfests in Massachusetts last summer. “I think the people living there are just excited to have a band on their front lawn. It’s not every day that they get to do that.”
Porchfests typically distribute printed maps of the day’s or weekend’s lineup and post information online.
As for facilities, it’s common to find food trucks and portable toilets on the grounds. Some arrange to utilize the restrooms of local churches, libraries or restaurants.
“You can bring your grandkids and your dog,” Gould says. “It’s just a lovely community event.”
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