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Napa Porchfest 2011

California's First Ever

What is the Porchfest?

The Napa Porchfest is a festival of musicians playing on the historic front porches of Napa. The event was on Sunday, July 31, 2011 from two to five in the afternoon.

Musicians on the Porch

Napa porchfest musicians playing on the porch

Photo courtesy of Napa Porch Festival Facebook page
Musicians playing on the porch - awesome fun!

Napa porchfest crowd enjoying the festivities

Photo courtesy of Napa Porch Festival Facebook page
A fantastic crowd turned out for the festivities

Photo courtesy of Napa County Landmarks
The Porchfest took place on historic porches like this beauty

When and Where

The community, musicians, porch owners and sponsors came together to create a very memorable event. Their first Porchfest was July 31, 2011 from 2 to 5 pm.

This music festival is a wonderful combination of live music on some wonderful historic porches of Napa from Alta Heights to the Western Addition.

The live event took place on several dozen historic porches with over 30 musical acts. Hopefully this is just the first of many Napa Porchfests.

Did we mention free?

Yes, this venue was free.

Sampling of the Music

Kristen Van Dyke Band - Alternate rock

8 Hands Afoot - Classical 8 hands 2 pianos

Amazing Pictures from the Porchfest

All of these photos were taken by Rick Anderson and graciously shared on Flickr.com

Again, a big thank you to Rick Andersonfor taking all of these wonderful photographs.

Musicians and Music Styles at the Napa Porchfest

John Kelly & Jennifer Jekel - Duo Celtic
Rachel Scully - Solo singer acoustic
Lissette Banda - Solo singer, songwriter
The Sow Belly Trio - African Cuban
Rhythm Cats - Rockabilly, Jump Blues and Swing
Marie and Cedric Blues Band - Blues
Magnaminous - Techno synth piano solo
Foster Family Band - Jazz
The Erich Zann Band - Blues / 4 peeps
Donovan Jurich - Solo guitar
Vocal Color - Acapella 8 voices
Sharon Hedlund - Solo piano
Larry Otis and John Ruch - Guitar duo
Napa Valley Ramblers - Bluegrass
Pacific Rims - Full tilt percussion
Flashback - Rock and roll
The Slippery Nickels - Jazz trio
Familiar Soul - Jazz
Kristen Van Dyke Band - Alternate rock
Andrew Stanton - Singer / songwriter
Tommy Ti - Jazzy accordion
Darleen Gardner & Steve Della Maggioa - Vocals and bass
8 Hands Afoot - Classical 8 hands 2 pianos
Deluna - Alternate rock
Anna Pfeifer - Jazz / funk
Chuck Mottern - Solo acoustic
Ron Bruder & Michelle Chu - Acoustic duo
Hudak and the Masterclaw - Duo of the riff
Ove the Garden - High energy duo
Trevor Lyon - Reggae style
Shilo & Bell - Original folk, bold
Mirror Image - Rock and roll
Melissa Phillips Trio - Acoustic guitar duo
21GunSaloon - Rock
Cliff Greenwood and the Monsters - Americana/alt country/punk
Trio Solea - Flamenco, latin, jazz
Tom Overton - Singer , solo guitar
Frank Hernandez - Singer , piano
The Napa Musicians Performance Guild - Blues, jazz, folk, world
Residual Sugar - Rock
Eloquence Strings - Strings
Picaszy Quartet - String quartet

What to Bring to the Napa Porchfest

Just bring a comfortable lawn chair, some sunscreen, a cooler filled with goodies - and your family and friends. Be prepared for a great afternoon.

Photo courtesy of Juliana Inman
Notice the amazing and unique trim on this front porch

Napa County Landmarks board member Juliana Inman - and also a NAPA architect - notes that Napa has thousands of historic homes and many with wonderful porches. Combine that with a fantastic lineup of musicians and voila! A Porchfest for all to enjoy.

The Hosting Front Porches

Here are pictures of many of the front porches that are hosts to the musicians.

Napa porchfest

Big thanks to the NapaPorchfest.org for sharing these pictures with us.

How the Porchfest Concept Began

The Porchfest concept originated in Ithaca, N.Y in 2007. One day, Lesley Greene and her husband, both Ithaca musicians, were playing music on their porch - and the idea for a porch music festival popped into their heads. Why not host music venues on porches and invite the community? What a super front porch idea.

The Porchfest concept was born with three dozen music concerts hosted on various porches throughout Ithaca. That began an annual tradition. The idea has spread to other cities and states such as Somerville MA, Cleveland OH and now Napa CA.

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