It’s not that Somerville is expecting an encore Porchfest performance from Guster, an internationally touring indie rock band with local roots that did a free set last year – packing Aberdeen Road in Spring Hill solid with fans and pumping up the numbers of overall festival attendees to an estimated 30,000.
Ahead of its 14th year on Saturday, though, Porchfest is seeing changes from its organizer, the Somerville Arts Council: whole streets taken off the map, a new application process with a required porch badge pickup and a roving ambassador program to provide eyes on the street and help direct festivalgoers.
“Porchfest has grown so much for the last few years, and Guster was just an additional reason as to why we needed to add more restrictions,” said Iaritza Menjivar, an event manager for the Arts Council. “The event has grown out of its capacity – out of our capacity – and we’re just trying to find ways to keep the events around.”
Somerville Porchfest is a music festival in which musicians perform on, well, porches and at houses around the city – a homespun event founded in 2011, taking a break in 2020 only for “CouchFest,” the online version of the event during the Covid pandemic. Originally around 60 bands, last year there were 413 performers. This year it’s risen to nearly 500.
“Especially after Covid, I feel like people found that having these outdoor events were essential with everybody staying connected and doing something as a community,” Menjivar said.
The council formed a Porchfest Committee over the winter with musicians, business owners and Department of Public Works staff to tackle issues around the festival’s growth.
“More residents, performers and city partners have expressed the need for clearer structure and boundaries to help preserve the event’s original grassroots spirit and to ensure it’s a safe event for everyone,” Menjivar said. “Guster was just an added component. It was, obviously, an exception. These conversations have been happening internally with the council and the bands themselves.”
Clearing the streets
The largest change to Porchfest this year was to the city map: “High traffic streets” are now restricted from participating, Menjivar said, eliminating the porches and yards where last year some 60 bands played, The Boston Globe reported. That’s the size of the original Porchfest.
“The change to the porch map was essentially just thinking about safety for everybody and it wasn’t a decision that was made lightly,” Menjivar said. The excluded streets are important arteries and keep them clear means emergency vehicles and community members can get through Somerville during Porchfest.
Even with the removal of the city’s mayor corridors – Broadway, Summer Street, Highland and Somerville avenues, College Avenue and Cedar, Lowell, Central, School and Walnut streets – “many performers were able to find alternative locations or connect with new hosts,” Menjivar said.
An application process that collected contact information from bands was another change, along with the requirement for porch monitors: a nonband member to oversee each performance that musicians registered alongside themselves. A new badge system requires a placard be displayed on participating porches – to increase awareness of which porches and people are involved in the event, Menjivar said.
A representative for each porch had to pick up their badge at City Hall Annex. Original pickup hours were across three days during business hours; two days with evening pickup times were added. The arts council “expanded the dates to make it a little bit easier for everybody,” said guitarist Ethan Lauer, of the cover band Can O Worms.
Taking changes in stride
Though there’s been some online grumbles, performers are not complaining about the changes when asked.
“The registration process was more intense than in previous years, but nothing unreasonable,” said Alasdair MacKenzie, bassist and vocalist of Hush Club, a Somerville indie band performing at 201 Holland St. from noon to 2 p.m.
The registration process also “wasn’t an issue” for the indie band Graveyard of the Atlantic, guitarist and singer Dave Debany said. The band, performing at 38 Meacham Road from noon to 2 p.m., plans to preview unreleased material ahead of releasing a single this summer and an album out at the end of the year.
For Can O Worms, the only uncertainty came after the application process. “There’s always anticipation of [whether you are] going to get the gig or not,” Lauer said. The Waltham band is making its Porchfest and large audience debut at 2 Village Terrace from 4 to 6 p.m., planning to play classic rock, pop songs and some original work.
Ready for emergencies big or small
Porchfest ambassadors will be stationed throughout the city to hand out maps to performances and direct people to the increased number of port-a-potties, the council said.
Members of the council will also be stationed at the City Hall Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s Mobile Emergency Operations Center with representatives from fire, police, Public Works and other city departments who will “work together to ensure a safe and well-coordinated Porchfest 2025,” Menjivar said.
To make Porchfest happen, it takes a huge effort, Menjivar said. “We appreciate that people love this event and we are glad we can keep bringing this to the city, but we need everybody’s help to keep this event viable,” she said.
To sign up for emergency text alerts for this year’s Porchfest, text SOMPORCHFEST to 888777.
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