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By Dave and Mary
Porchfest Celebrations
Enjoy These Special Music Events
Porchfests are special music festivals held on front porches while neighbors and
visitors stroll from porch to porch to enjoy the festivities!
Our calendar lists events around the country so you can find one near you.
These special events for music can be great last minute family vacation ideas.
Listen to local musicians and enjoy the sights of the surrounding area.
The first Porchfest was held in Ithaca NY in 2007 and
the idea has happily spread to other neighborhoods across the country and into Canada with more being added every year.
Blane Howard Performs at Porchfest
Neighbors, friends, and community gather for Porchfest
What Porchfests Are About
Porchfests are music events in local neighborhoods that take place on porches.
Typically, local musicians take turns playing for specific amounts of time.
In many cases, neighborhoods also have food carts and other entertainment venues for kids of all ages making it an ideal family event.
If you are lucky enough to live near one of these events, then take your kids, bring a lawn chair and a cooler for a fun day of socializing and enjoying wonderful music on the front porches of your neighborhood.
If you don't see one near you, it might be a good idea to organize one in your community. Have porches? Have musicians? Have families? Then you have what you need!
While we aim to reflect accurate information, it is always best to check with each individual website (links provided below) to be sure of their current details. Thank you!
We Love Music on the Porch
Meet the Amigos L to R: Carolyn Bauer, Don Hudgins, Anita Hudgins and Liz Ostman
Our dear friend and neighbor, Liz, belongs to a musical group, the Amigos, who play ukulele on the porch every Tuesday.
The four of them, Anita, Don, Carolyn and Liz, began playing together at the Fifty Forward group in Hermitage TN.
But when the pandemic came, they moved their music outside, socially distanced.
Don offered his wonderful porch and that's where they meet every Tuesday afternoon "picking and grinning", as Liz so enthusiastically says.
Ukulele on the porch
They play a wonderful wide variety of music from gospel, like Swing Low Sweet Chariot, to country, like Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker, to rock, Eric Clapton's Let It Rain.
Dave and I think they have found the perfect recipe for authentic joy - music on the porch with friends!
We look forward to their first album
The four of them joke about putting out an album, but you know, they live in Music City. Here in Nashville, TN, music dreams can come true.
We are cheering them on and hope they continue playing for a good long time.
PorchFest Calendar Being Updated Periodically
United States Porchfests and Music Events
If your event is not listed here or if you are aware of a scheduled date,
please let us know and we will
gladly add it. We also love hearing your tips for organizing a successful event and seeing your photos and videos, too.
Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Garden District
Date: Usually in April
Tucson Porchfest - Date TBD
California
San Francisco Mission District
See pictures of the Napa porch festival from prior years.
Colorado
Florida
Historic Springfield
Palatka, Florida
Usually in April
(Palatka's South Historic District located on the banks of the majestic St Johns River)
Quincy, Florida
Usually in October
Indiana
Maine
Portland, ME
Maryland
Hagerstown, MD
Massachusetts
Michigan
Walter Hill Music Fest
Rain date is one week later
Minnesota
Missouri
West Plaza Neighborhood Porchfest
New Jersey
Cranbury Township, New Jersey
PorchFest Cranbury is a weekly, summer-long, roaming block party for neighbors of all ages.
New York
Buffalo, New York
Usually in May
2015 event was held on October 3rd
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca: where porchfests got their start!
Date: Usually in September
Historic Westside Neighborhood of the Franklin Square District (website not available)
Rochester, New York
Sackets Harbor, New York
September 15th from 12 - 6PM
Ohio
Pennsylvania
The Old Town section of Erie, Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Charleston, SC
Folly Beach Porchfest
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Spokane, Washington
International Porchfests and Music Events
Canada
Belleville, Ontario
Usually in September
Winnipeg, Manitoba
From the first porchfest celebration in Ithaca N.Y. in 2007 to over 19 today across the U.S. and Canada, more
and more neighborhoods are embracing music to create a sense of community.
These family oriented special music events allow
neighbors to meet neighbors and for others to witness the gathering of friends for a day of entertainment.
Fun scene from the Westhaven Porchfest, Franklin TN
Singer/song writer Kate Schettler
Front porches become the venue onto which local musicians play for a specified time to people of all ages.
Neighbors join by walking, riding bikes, driving golf carts, or riding skate boards and move from porch to porch.
Kids sell lemonade and watermelon and vendors sometimes supply the ice cream.
Grab a folding chair, your cooler and enjoy live music on wonderful porches
Find a porchfest this year; it's a great family vacation idea or weekend activity.
Musical group Concord Road performing at Porchfest
Grab a folding chair, your cooler and enjoy live music on wonderful porches
Wonderful Pictures from The First Napa Porchfest
Musicians on the Porch
First 2 photos courtesy of Napa Porch Festival Facebook page
A fantastic crowd turned out for the festivities
More Napa Porchfest Pictures
The following photos were taken by Rick Anderson.
Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches.
You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.
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Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches.
You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.
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