On a beautiful spring morning in 2007, Lesley Greene and her husband Robbert were sitting on the front steps of their Ithaca, New York, home, strumming ukuleles and singing tunes. When their neighbor Gretchen Hildreth walked by, they struck up a conversation about the joy of outdoor music. Looking up and down their street, they realized how many musicians lived right in the neighborhood. “We thought we could have a music festival — people playing right here,” Greene recalls.  

After talking it over for a few months, Greene and Hildreth decided to make it happen. They told all their neighbors, drew up a map that showed where bands were scheduled to play and launched the first “Porchfest.” Twenty local bands signed up to play on front porches throughout the neighborhood.

It was a massive hit. As it turns out, the magic of Porchfest isn’t just the music. It’s the profound sense of connection the event weaves throughout the community. “It’s joyful because you are walking around outside, hearing great music, and seeing people you usually don’t see all year long,” says Greene. 

As folks wander from yard to yard, standing right up close to the musicians, they share an intimate, memorable experience. They have a chance to get to know one another in a new way, or connect with neighbors they’ve never met.

The annual Ithaca Porchfest now features about 160 bands. Remarkably, the entire festival operates purely on community goodwill. Aside from a few food and craft vendors, nobody gets paid — not the organizers or the musicians. Everyone gives their time and talent for free, Greene says, because “they feel like they’re part of something fun, something that is joyful and community-building. That’s a good feeling.”

The idea that began on a single porch in Ithaca has now spread to communities all over the country. About 250 Porchfests occur throughout the year, all operating independently and driven by folks who love live music and want to get their neighbors out of their houses to meet one another.

Lisa Martelly of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is one of those folks. Martelly first discovered Porchfest while attending grad school in Boston. The Porchfest in nearby Somerville became her “favorite day of the year,” she says. When she later moved to the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis, she knew it was the perfect spot to recreate the same exciting community energy she discovered in Somerville. 

Martelly and her friend Amy Goldstein launched Uptown Porchfest in 2023. The inaugural event drew thousands of people to the neighborhood’s streets, and the number of participating porches grew from around 20 in the first year to 35 the next. Other areas of Minneapolis also host their own annual Porchfest; each one is slightly different, reflecting the character and personality of the neighborhood.

Porchfest’s impact extends long after the bands finish their sets, Martelly says. Folks remain on their porches to talk and share food with neighbors and new friends. Martelly believes celebrations like Porchfest not only can bring local communities together, they can also help heal our deeper social divides.

Sharing a fun day of outdoor music is a great first step toward building empathy and understanding in a divided world, Martelly says. “If you can have a good time with your neighbor, if you meet them and see they’re a good person, I feel like that can just be a little nudge to be open minded toward people who aren’t like you.”

Summer is the perfect time of year to gather neighbors together for a fun neighborhood event like Porchfest. Chances are, there is a Porchfest happening somewhere near you. If there isn’t? Check out Lesley Greene’s handy guide to starting a Porchfest of your own. If you end up at one this summer, we hope you’ll share about it with us on Weaving Us.