Culture
Near Eastside Neighborhood Association’s Porchfest brings free live music to residential homes Sunday
By: Emily Votaw
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Every year over 200 communities around the country celebrate the unique character of their neighborhoods with informal community music festivals known as “porchfests.”
Athens gets its own for the first time Sunday with the inaugural Near Eastside Neighborhood Association (NENA) Porchfest.
Kicking off at noon, the event brings more than 20 regional musical performers to 14 residential homes (plus two local businesses) over the course of a midsummer afternoon and evening.
It’s happening in the Near Eastside for a pretty simple reason: many of the houses have porches.
NENA Porchfest organizer Rob Delach says this simple fact about the architecture of the neighborhood is more important than one might first realize.
“Porches are a great way to build community and social interaction in the neighborhood,” Delach says, noting that a high number of porches in a community is “a good indicator of how strong a neighborhood is, how social, how great of a place it is to be.”
Delach emphasized his hope that the event showcases not only the Near Eastside’s unique character – but also what he calls “Athens’ funkiness.”
This concept of “Athens’ funkiness” felt so core to the event that organizers considered using it somehow in the event’s name. However, “funk” implies a very specific genre of music, so they decided to make “Keep Athens Funky” their slogan, instead.
The NENA Porchfest happens Sunday, and it’s free to attend. Find the details on the full line up at this link.
In addition to live music, the event features kid’s activities throughout the day. Find more information on where those activities are scheduled to happen, plus where you can park for free, in the map below.
