A BRO reader sent me link to the Somerville PorchFest event, hoping that someone would see it as a good fit for Buffalo, and roll it out in the future. After taking a look at the logistics, I believe that our reader might be onto something. Basically, PorchFest sounds like a great way to get live music out onto the streets of Buffalo… with musicians playing from their porches. Not only does Buffalo have some incredible musicians, there are also a ton of sweet porches (right Steel?). The following is a description of the event, as seen on the PorchFest website:
In 2011, we created a decentralized music festival–PorchFest. Perhaps you’ve sat on your porch and overheard a neighbor strumming guitar on another porch? Porchfest takes this idea and multiplies it. This is not a festival per se but rather a community event where Somervillians share their love of playing and listening to music. Think of Somerville Open Studios, which is for visual artists, but for music.
On Saturday, May 18th musicians and bands throughout Somerville will celebrate and utilize an underused public venue: The Porch. Acts–ranging from bollywood funk, cosmic americana, killer blues, Moroccan, Balkan, gospel, American space rock and clawhammer banjo–will serenade passersby from porches throughout Somerville.
What would it take to play off this great idea? An orchestrator of course! There are so many people always asking, “I want to do something for Buffalo, but I’m not sure how I can help.” Well, if you have a bent for music (and porches), this could be a great way to get involved with a grassroots city-wide initiative. Sommerville has written the playbook. C’mon, we just got an artisan market going at Canalside. Now who is up for kicking off a Buffalo version of PorchFest? If you think that this is something that you would like to see happen, but aren’t sure about what steps to take, give me a shout and I will try to help. If more than one person responds, I’ll connect you… the start of every good planning committee. I already have a couple of people in mind to join in on the fun… and after poking around, it looks as if there are a couple of different PorchFests out there, so let’s see if we can make this happen. After all, this is not rocket science… it’s musicians playing on their porches in tandem with an online map.