Listen to great live music, watch storytellers and connect with your neighbors at Porchfest LA this weekend. Hundreds of performers will be appearing on porches, yards and patios at homes across East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Mar Vista and Culver City, all for free.
What is Porchfest? It started in Ithaca in 2007 and has spread across the country, landing in L.A. last year on the eastside. This year, it’s also happening on the westside.
What’s it like? The vibe is casual. Anyone can attend (taking your own folding chair is recommended) with performances from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The only must is you have to get out of your house. Whether you talk to your neighbors is up to you.
Maybe like you, I love to support local musicians and storytellers. But sometimes, I just don’t want to get into the car one more time.
This weekend’s Porchfest LA is the perfect antidote, with performers appearing on people's porches in East Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake on the Eastside and Mar Vista and Culver City on the Westside. No parking needed. (Full disclosure: My husband is in one of the bands, and I will be spending much of the weekend watching him and others play their hearts out).
This Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, 130 performers at 24 homes will be appearing on the Eastside (map here), and more than 120 performers at over 20 homes on the Westside (map here). Both hosts and performers give their time for free (aka no ticket cost) and you can be outside, enjoying the gorgeous weather and reveling in community. (Taking your own folding chair is recommended).
All kinds of performances are on offer over the weekend, including indie folk, jazz, sketch comedy, a comedic punk songster, Tex-Mex folk songs, a clown duo, the “mega beautiful poetry porch” curated by Los Feliz Poet Laureate Derrick Brown and the oddly specific “weird ass comedy meets like a Foucault lecture.” (Check out the Eastside and the Westside schedules).
All kinds of music and performances are welcomed
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Courtesy Porchfest LA
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Porchfest began in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2007 and has since spread across the country. It was held in L.A. for the first time last year when actor Hélène Udy brought it to the Eastside. This year, the Westside is joining in, organized by Rob Kadota of the Mar Vista Music Project. He says it’s what we need to connect in our increasingly isolated world.
“ L.A., we are such a car-driven place, we don't get out and talk to our neighbors,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to really sit outside and contemplate and think about your neighborhood in maybe different ways than we typically think of.”
He recommends biking if you can to visit more porches but also suggests choosing locations that you can walk to and just being open to whoever shows up.
“I'd say pick two porches for Saturday and pick two on Sunday and enjoy the day,” Kadota said.
