EASTHAMPTON — The only thing better than going to a concert is simply walking across the street for not one, but many. The third annual Easthampton Porchfest seeks to harness community power to bring 48 bands and performers to different houses and locations around the city this weekend.
Porchfest will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4 starting at noon and is expected to last through the afternoon. The idea behind Porchfest is to have multiple mini concerts at different homes and locations throughout the city, so residents can get a taste of the wide various bands and music styles in the community.
Forty-eight bands and performers will begin playing at 20 locations at the start of each hour in the New City, Maple and Park District areas. The headliner, Princess Ghoul, will play at 5 p.m. at 56 Parsons St.
“After the first year doing Porchfest, I was going on a walk around my neighborhood and I bumped into like maybe two or three people who I just talked to because of Porchfest …,” said City Councilor Felicia Jadczak. “It really warms my heart because that’s the whole point of it, is that we want to build connections and let people meet each other. Really it’s a community building experience.”
Jadczak and her husband Steven Collicelli were attending Cultural Chaos one year when they came across a band who organized a concert at their house. The two got flashbacks to the Sommerville Porchfest, one of many in the Greater Boston area they would attend before they moved to Easthampton. Together, they spearheaded efforts to bring the festival to the city in collaboration with Easthampton City Arts (ECA) in 2023.
“We thought, huh, that’s so funny that it happened organically around Cultural Chaos and at the same time we were thinking, why doesn’t Easthampton have a porchfest?” said Jadczak.
Every year has been growing in a organic way and I am happy to be a part of that
Musician, Rusty Daniels
Jadczak said the growth of the fest is a testimony to its popularity — the first year only took place in the New City area and has nearly doubled in size each year since. She said many people are unfamiliar with the idea, but if you’ve been to a porchfest before, you know how impactful it is.
“The idea is that you can start off at one spot, and then maybe you’ll walk down the street and kind of wander around. You might hear somebody playing in another spot and go over there. So that’s really sort of the idea behind the neighborhood feels of it,” Jadczak said.
The first two years of the event were funded through Easthampton City Arts (ECA). Now, it is mainly funded through a grant from the Easthampton Cultural Council and donations that are split between the performers. The event is organized as one of the “Easthamptonings” that the group who organized porchfest created earlier this year.
Rusty Daniels, a resident who is part of the acoustic pop-rock bands Murder(Sword) and Take on Chris, has played in the event since the beginning and is helping to co-organize it this year. Just like Jadczak, he went to fests in the greater Boston area where he lived before moving to Easthampton. When he heard a porchfest was being organized in Easthampton, he jumped at the opportunity to participate.
“(My favorite part is) just meeting new people. Every year has been growing in a organic way and I am happy to be a part of that,” he said.
Besides the community aspect the short commute is a big bonus for Daniels. “As somebody who has been playing music my whole life in bands and tours all over the world, just being able to set up my gear in my backyard and host is awesome.”
While most locations are considered family friendly, there is a designated location for kids at 20 Exeter St. To find the locations, times of each band and more details visit the Easthampton Porchfest website. A map of the different locations can be found here.
