Coming off a pandemic, the best thing that could ever happen to a neighborhood is Porchfest. Yesterday, that Elmwood Village came alive with the assorted sounds of live music. Not only did 100+ music acts take to the stages (porches and patios), the streets (sidewalks) were filled to the brim with music lovers in search of their favorite act (or their favorite porches).
Per usual, the epicenter of Porchfest was the intersection of Elmwood and Lafayette (lead image), where a throng of people occupied the northwest corner. From there, the sounds of live music rang out loud and clear, not just on that corner, but from porches up and down Lafayette (and beyond).
This year, the heart of Porchfest was Elmwood. After a long hibernation, restaurants were happy to participate in the event, in ways that they never have before. Just about every patio was rocking, including the future home of lloyd Taco (still in the works).
It was great to see Elmwood come alive in away that was so inspirational. It’s times like this when you can see the full potential of the street. Not only did restaurants participate in the event, a bunch of retailers also stepped up to showcase their offerings in ways that made the street shine.
I walked around Porchfest with a few friends who all enjoyed themselves. One member of our Porchfest crew had never attended the event before. He told me that this was his new favorite event in Buffalo – he mentioned that it was if Porchfest was “built for Buffalo.”
He also said that he was going to make sure that he would never miss another one. I told him that Elmwood was only one of the numerous Porchfests that are now rocking and rolling in WNY. The next one on the calendar is the South Buffalo Porchfest – so if you happened to miss the Elmwood version, there are still plenty of opportunities to catch these fabulous events in other parts of the city and region.