The Abridged version:
- The 11th annual Sac Porchfest brings 12 bands to three porches in Sacramento’s historic Boulevard Park neighborhood, with 35-minute sets and 10-minute breaks for attendees to move from stage to stage.
- Since 2015, the free, volunteer-run festival has celebrated Sacramento’s music scene and community spirit, relying on neighbors, porch hosts and volunteers to bring the event to life.
- Organizers recommend bringing a chair, water and sunscreen and making a day of discovering local bands and checking out nearby restaurants.
For one Saturday each year, a select few porches on 21st Street become stages, turning a stretch of the Boulevard Park neighborhood into a music festival.
Sac Porchfest, now in its 11th year, will bring free live music to Sacramento on Oct. 10, with 12 bands performing across three stages near 21st and H streets. Encouraging people to roam from one performance to the next, the grassroots festival has grown into an annual celebration of local music and community that raises money for local causes.
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What to know before you go
Twelve local bands will turn three Boulevard Park porches into stages from 1-10 p.m. Saturday during Sac Porchfest. The festival invites people to roam the neighborhood, with bands performing one at a time across three porches. Each 35-minute set is staggered and followed by a 10-minute break, giving attendees time to make their way to the next stage.
Sac Porchfest is free to attend and run by volunteers, accepting optional donations that benefit local causes. This year, donations will support the nonprofit Mustard Seed School, a Loaves and Fishes program providing free education to children experiencing homelessness in Sacramento.
The event’s organizers, Jalal Haddad and Lorren Baker, see Sac Porchfest as an opportunity to highlight local bands and create a space for the community to connect through a shared love of music. They invite people to stop by, bring a lawn chair, water and sunscreen, while staying on sidewalks and grassy areas to enjoy the shows.
“The beauty of Porchfest is it’s simply a neighborhood music festival where we’re trying to bring people together,” Baker said. “It’s like a bar crawl, but with bands.”
Baker encouraged people to bike, carpool or take a rideshare service to the event, as parking spaces are limited. She also recommended stopping by local wine bar Ro Sham Beaux on J Street, and Haddad suggested grabbing a slice from Marilyn’s Pizza or an Asian-inspired tostada from La Costa Cafe on G Street.
Porchfests happen throughout the country and in neighboring cities like Auburn, Modesto and Napa. Yet Haddad said Sac Porchfest is more of a curated experience. From ensuring performances don’t overlap to balancing genres throughout the lineup, the schedule is carefully planned so attendees experience a steady mix of musical styles.
“The crowds keep growing throughout the day and it gets to be more festive, and each band gets a dedicated audience,” Haddad said.
What Sac Porchfest means to its neighborhood
Support from the community helps bring Sac Porchfest to life each year, from neighbors lending garbage and recycling bins to friends pitching in with portable toilet services, but the festival wouldn’t be possible without residents opening their porches to musicians and attendees for the day. For Lisa Folberg, one of the porch hosts, being part of the event is a point of pride.
“I feel like in these times when there’s such a corporate domination of everything we do, from what we wear to the music we listen to, it’s so refreshing and nice to have a true grassroots event that showcases Sacramento’s creativity and these beautiful old neighborhoods,” she said. “It’s been a real honor for me as a homeowner to be able to share that with a large community.”
Folberg has volunteered her front porch for Sac Porchfest five times, but she insisted she has the easy part of the gig. The organizers and sound crews volunteer countless hours preparing and setting up porches on old homes to act as functional stages, while she just opens her home for the day.
“The only motivation is to bring people together, make them happy, and raise awareness and money for a good cause,” Folberg said.
Although opening her home to unfamiliar musicians and festivalgoers might seem risky, Folberg added the event has always had a relaxed atmosphere.
“The neighborhood definitely gets much more lively than it usually is, but we’ve never had a problem and people have been really respectful,” Folberg said. “The organizers do a really great job of keeping people safe.”
Haddad said Sac Porchfest doesn’t have to seek hosts or bands because they’re constantly reaching out to volunteer. He said the festival has struck a chord in the community, and people are eager to donate their time and talents to keep the tradition going.
“People can feel that this is an anti-profit event,” Haddad said. “When they come, they’re treated to free music and community building, and they’re not getting hassled or having to buy anything unless they want to donate.”
The festival’s community spirit shows up in unexpected ways, from a local artist painting courtroom scenes from a lawn chair during performances to attendees who credit the event with life-changing connections, including one person who told organizers they met their wife at one of the shows.
Playing for the community
Matty Gerken of Be Brave Bold Robot, a local indie folk-rock band, has taken the stage on a resident’s porch nearly every year of Sac Porchfest. Gerken said he loves seeing lots of smiling faces of all ages and from all walks of life, showing up for one another and for a great cause.
“It is absolutely one of my favorite events in Sacramento, and I love how spontaneous it feels,” Gerken said. “It’s not officially sanctioned, it’s not to make money, it doesn’t have that sterile, over-engineered feeling, but it’s very well organized and has been really successful.”
Gerken said performing at Sac Porchfest offers an unusually intimate experience, with audiences standing close enough to reach out and touch the microphone and porch hosts welcoming musicians with tamales.
“I love the musical camaraderie feeling about it,” Gerken said. “There’s all these musicians donating their time and talents, equipment, the people that donate their time to run the sound, and the wonderful neighbors that donate their porches to the cause.”
Frontman Morgan Wenter with the island jazz punk band Bro Brocean said playing Sac Porchfest for the first time in 2018 was the band’s big break, and each year they’ve played has been an honor. Several bands apply to play every year, hoping to share their music with the community.
“We played at Flop Haus and it was the coolest thing ever,” Wenter said. “The sidewalks were filled, we were overlooking this massive crowd that we would never draw at a bar gig, and we just had a blast with it.”
While it’s an unpaid gig, Sac Porchfest is a great opportunity for exposure and networking for local bands, Wenter said. Connections are made and doors open, but it’s more about community than competition.
This year’s lineup primarily features “fresh faces” coming up in the local music scene, and Wenter isn’t fazed about not being part of it. He described the festival’s rotating lineup of local bands as what makes the event special.
“I was so impressed seeing this year’s lineup because I only recognized one band,” Wenter said. “It’s all about displaying what’s going on currently in Sacramento and not the legacy bands.”
Gerken emphasized that getting to perform against the backdrop of Sacramento’s historic residential architecture adds a distinct charm to the shows. And with bands spanning genres from indie to rock, the festival reflects the diversity of local music.
“The quality of the light in October is just beautiful, there’s usually a new coolness in the air, and everyone is feeling relieved that we’ve all survived another brutal Sacramento summer,” he said.
With Saturday’s forecast predicting a high of 75 degrees, Sac Porchfest is right on time.
