By Mary Bradley
Porchfests began in 2007 in Ithaca, New York, as a means for local musicians to perform for their friends and neighbors on porches throughout town. Little did the organizers know what an explosion of joy they had unleashed. There are now over 200 Porchfest across the world, the majority of which are right here in New England.
Earlier this year, NPR declared the Porchfest Season* runs from May through September. And it’s true; the majority of Porchfests in New England do fall within this time, including Belmont’s very own.
Belmont’s Porchfest has carved out the Saturday following Labor Day for our town-wide celebration of local talent showcasing their music and art prowess on porches and in yards throughout town and at Town Green. This year the event will be on September 9 from 11am-6pm.
Over time our Porchfest has cultivated perennials, annuals, volunteers, and threat of invasives. This season does not portend to be any different.
Photo: Rachel Beusee-Kauffman
Porchfest Perennials:
JULY: Porchfest signs festooning parks and yards crop up, reminding hosts and performers to register on the Belmont Porchfest website (www.belmontporchfest.org).
SEPTEMBER: A schedule of performances is posted on the website and a link to a google map is posted on Facebook and Instagram.
Porchfest Annuals:
In the past, Porchfest has cast a variety of seeds to see what would take hold including valet biking parking, water bottles, t-shirts, vegan pizza, making a documentary, a community-wide art project, and a student-centric park size porch. Several of these have taken a firm hold, while others have disappeared or may be dormant, waiting for the right time to reappear. This year our documentary will be released, and the POMS Showcase / Student Open Mic will return at Town Green, joined by art tables from community artists. The mosaics from the 2022 community-wide art project will be hung at the Universalist Unitarian Church and The Belmont Media Center this summer.
Volunteers:
Please reach out to the Belmont Porchfest if you would like to join our team!
Threat of Invasives:
Many Porchfests this season have been threatened or truncated by storms. As always, we have a rain date: September 10, 2023.
To learn more about Porchfests, visit www.BelmontPorchfest.org. Mary Bradley’s 13-minute Semi-Finalist Award Winning Documentary, A Porchfest Journey, will be shown later this year.
Mary Bradley is the Founder and Executive Director of Belmont Porchfest.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.