On the way home from Connect Market yesterday, a friend of mine (who currently lives out of town) couldn’t believe his eyes as we drove past multiple music venues (front porches) on the West Side of the city. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said as we pulled over on the side of Richmond Avenue in order to take a closer look and listen. I hadn’t told my buddy about Porchfest, and could tell that he suffering from a bit of shock and awe. “This is Buffalo?” he asked, as a fleet of skateboarders whizzed by. It almost felt as if we were on the set of the movie Funny Farm (cue the deer!), and I was trying to sell him on moving to Buffalo. But that wasn’t the case. He already likes Buffalo, and upon each return visit continues to find multiple reasons to brag about it as he travels around the world for business. “It looks more like Portland,” he laughed.
When the idea of Porchfest was still but a dream, it was easy to tell that this West Side grassroots festival would be a home run hit. In a city such as Buffalo, where just about every house has a front porch, and your neighbors are all musicians on the side, the bones for such an event were in place all along. All it took was for the idea to present itself (see here), an organization to run with the concept (see here), musicians and homeowners to offer up their resources (see here), and a city to embrace it (see here).
For the second year in a row, Porchfest was a huge hit. Traveling down just about every street was a delight, as small crowds gathered on front lawns to listen to various eclectic sounds that resounded from historic front porches. Music-lovers, outfitted with backpacks filled with all sorts of goodies, wandered from house to house in search of good tunes. Homeowners brought out their lawn furniture, couches and dining room chairs to offer comfortable seating arrangements for their vagabond guests. It was Buffalo hospitality at its finest, defined by the appreciative music fans and their consummate hosts.
Thanks to the Elmwood Village Association for putting together such a dynamic and inspiring festival for the second year in a row. Long live Buffalo Porchfest!
*2014 Porchfest | Photo: Ten Foot Tongue plays at 209 Richmond Avenue