Why you might see – and hear – unusual stuff on a lot of Modesto porches Sunday

Generally, when you talk about a grassroots event, you don’t literally plan to have it happen where grass is rooted. But that’s the plan this weekend when front lawns in Modesto become concert seating and local bands play from stages that usually serve as front porches.

The multi-venue music festival Modesto Porchfest kicks off its inaugural event on Sunday, July 30. More than 30 homes in the College, La Loma and downtown neighborhoods will host local bands to perform throughout the afternoon on their porches, patios and and driveways.

The Porchfest is a phenomenon that started in Ithica, NY, in 2007 and spread to nearly 90 communities internationally, according to Kate Trompetter, organizing the Modesto event with Ruhi Sheikh and Tricia Rosenow.

“It generated from an idea: What if we had an afternoon when porches all over the neighborhood became stages and everyone just meandered from yard to yard, listening, hanging out, and connecting/reconnecting with their neighbors?” she said. “Porchfest is the ultimate grassroots music festival. Outside the organizers, it is pretty much community owned and operated.”

Trompetter said she was inspired after hearing about Napa Porchfest. “I figured, with such a talented musical community here, there was no reason we couldn’t make this happen.”

So they put the idea out online and through Facebook, and the community responded, she said. “Both local porch hosts and musicians just responded to the call.”

David Boring is among those responders; he’ll host a performance by acoustic musician Nathan Ignacio on the porch of his College neighborhood home. He said the event offers a chance for people in the community to hear music that they might otherwise not be exposed to. “I love things that are culturally good for Modesto. I think letting our local musicians get out and perform like this is a wonderful advancement for our city,” Boring said. “There’s so much musical talent in this city.”

While it sounds like a big undertaking – 30 venues and bands to coordinate in a multi-venue musical festival, it’s really not, Trompetter said in an email. “It’s not quite as big as it may seem. If you consider what it would look like if a neighborhood decided to host individual yard sales on the same day (and) time, it’s not that different. (This) just has sound.”

Folks at the city of Modesto have been supportive, helping organizers navigate the process, she added. And Brian Gini with Collins Electric provided sponsorship money to get the community event going.

Ginevra Jamieson, who will host a performance by local artist Josh Rosenblum at her La Loma neighborhood home, said it was that community spirit that appealed to her. “I just think it’s such a great idea to invite the community and expose them to artists in the area, to help people get to know about them.”

After the bands play and venues return to being porches, the hope is that attendees will then head downtown for dinner or drinks at restaurants to help boost local businesses.

That all the artists are from the region was important to the organizers, Trompetter said, and genres represented will be “anything you could imagine” that reflects Modesto’s diverse talent pool – oldies to classic rock, folk to a Sitar player.

The bands will play from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, with a staggered neighborhood schedule: 2 to 4 p.m. in the College area, 3 to 5 p.m. in La Loma and 4 to 6 p.m. in downtown. A map of the homes participating is available on the event website, www.modestoporchfest.com. The event is free, but tip jars will be out to support the bands.

People who turn out to listen can bring blankets or folding chairs, Trompetter said. Attendees are encouraged to roam from porch to porch. “We would love for people to move around. Get on your bikes or walk. We’ve tried to vary the schedule so that you could easily get to multiple performances if you wanted.”

Boring suspects people will trip over the mini-concerts across the neighborhoods and be pleasantly surprised by what they find. “I think there are going to be a bunch of people who say ‘hey, what’s going here?’ It’s that sort of organic event that makes (Porchfest) so cool.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Why you might see – and hear – unusual stuff on a lot of Modesto porches Sunday."