If you missed out on the 14th annual Aftershock at Discovery Park this past weekend, don’t fret: a free music festival is coming to the porches of a historic neighborhood this weekend.
The 11th annual Sac Porchfest is a free one-day music festival from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Boulevard Park around 21st Street, North of I Street, that features 12 bands on three porches and a special performance they’ve called “the after party.”
Organizers say Saturday’s event is entirely volunteer-run and anti-profit, but they do sell t-shirts, koozies and all of their proceeds go to Mustard Seed School, which is a school for unhoused children aged 3 to 15.
“We reject any kind of a profit-oriented organization for this event because we feel like that’s the sweet spot for us,” said Jalal Haddad, an organizer of the event. “It’s a kind of a special, unique event in that way.”
Lorren Baker, also an organizer of the event, added that Sac Porchfest doesn’t collaborate with other organizations unless they’re fine with the idea they won’t earn any money.
“We want to make sure that everything that we’re doing just goes straight to whatever cause that we are trying to raise money for,” Baker said. “It’s been really hard to find someone else that we can agree more with than Mustard Seed School, so that’s why we’ve chosen them for the last multiple years.”
This event was launched in 2015, according to Haddad who has been involved since its inception.
There will be a variety of different genres that will be on display this weekend and will feature its “most dynamic lineup” they’ve ever had. The lineup includes Spencer Kilpatrick & The Sand Gators, Prime Society, Crash Babes, Dogpatch and more.
“We try to create as much of a diversity as possible, trying to consider what people would want to hear, what would be appropriate for the audience, for all ages to be able to enjoy,” Baker said. “Sometimes I swear Jalal would probably have nothing but bluegrass, if he could, but we try to make a balance of everything that will sound good on a porch.”
Haddad said people should come to the event this weekend because it’s a unique experience in Sacramento.
“There’s nothing else that I can think of that I’ve been to where you can go in and not spend a dime, but get free music, and support your community without being asked for any of your money,” he said.
Porchfests have become somewhat of a national trend. Some cities, like Auburn which recently held its Porchfest, will close some streets to make the experience easier for pedestrians.
For people who are attending Sacramento’s festival, organizers are asking attendees to stay out of the street and enjoy the music from the sidewalks, or grass area because the music is being played on resident porches.
“We’re not restricting folks in any way, and we’re not trying to have that kind of event, so we ask people to stay off the streets because cars will be passing through, and we don’t want anybody getting hit,” Haddad said. “One of the, I think, most charming parts about this whole thing is nobody has to walk through a gate and get frisked by a security guard and like have to dump out their water.”
Spectators watching the Porch Fest in Boulevard Park from the side walks keeping the streets clear from ongoing cars.Photo courtesy of Sac Porchfest
Boulevard Park
Noah Mebane, the president of the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association, said residents love hosting the event and consider it a feature of the neighborhood. He’s been attending Sac Porchfest since before he lived in Boulevard Park.
“It’s something that I think is kind of unique to where we are at because of Boulevard Park’s position within Midtown,” Mebane said. “It’s a little bit less busy, so you don’t have to worry so much about car traffic and being able to use up the residences that are in the neighborhood.”
Mebane said the neighbors are always clamoring to be part of Porchfest and has never heard any complaints from residents in the neighborhood.
“I know it’s actually quite competitive to be one of the porches that hosts it,” he said. “I think people want to be able to show off their homes and kind of be a space that people can gather around and create this awesome atmosphere.”
The benefits of having Sac Porcfest in the neighborhood is that it brings a great atmosphere and vibes, Mebane said. He mentioned it brings a lot of foot traffic to a neighborhood.
“It allows people to kind of enjoy what a lot of the residents of Boulevard Park get to enjoy, which is a beautiful backdrop,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of trees in our neighborhood, we’ve got a lot of beautiful old historic homes, and that’s usually those types of homes that are the porches that are used for Porchfest.”
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