KCRag Forum

We went to very cool event in West Plaza yesterday afternoon called Porchfest. It was brilliantly done. 30 or 40 bands played free shows on people's front porches throughout the neighborhood. The neighborhood was packed with spectators roaming from show to show. We saw "venues" with up to 150 or 200 people standing in the street, but most bands played to 25-50 people standing on the sidewalk or sitting on lawn chairs in the yard. There also seemed to be a lot of houses hosting parties for friends, so porches with no bands were often full of people. It was an amazing event that needs to be an annual thing.

http://www.porchfestkc.com/

I wished that was on a less busy weekend! Was there any participation by vendors or foodtrucks in the area? I'm not familiar enough with the detail of the neighborhood to know how easy it would be to pop somewhere for a snack/beverage and return.

indeed a great idea. would love to see porchfest rotate around the city and show off all of the great neighborhoods with porches.

we just saw one concert at a friend's house/porch, but had to head off to boulevardia taps & tastes.

This was an awesome event packed into a very busy weekend. I absolutely loved this event- lots of great bands and a laid back atmosphere. It seemed like it was something that had been happening in the neighborhood for years.

We went for a a couple of hours between a wedding and reception. It was a great event! Looking forward to next year!

I think there were food trucks, but we only covered a few blocks and didn't see any. It would be easy enough to have them dispersed on the sidestreets or on a centrally located block.

I ran into Yael at the Blackbird Revue show. We were both kind of in disbelief at how great an event it was. The backstory I got from the West Plaza neighborhood president was that a single resident more or less organized the whole thing.

chaglang wrote:I think there were food trucks, but we only covered a few blocks and didn't see any. It would be easy enough to have them dispersed on the sidestreets or on a centrally located block.

I ran into Yael at the Blackbird Revue show. We were both kind of in disbelief at how great an event it was. The backstory I got from the West Plaza neighborhood president was that a single resident more or less organized the whole thing.

Here's a Central Standard interview with the person that organized it:

http://kcur.org/post/kansas-citys-front ... venues-too

Guests:

Kathryn Golden, Organizer, PorchFest KC
Michael Dolan, author, The American Porch: An Informal History of an Informal Place

It was a fun event. I hope they have it next year so I can bring a chair and small cooler. We just walked around for a couple of hours. They seemed to have the bands separated enough so the music did not bleed from one venue to another.

It was a very cool event. It was just the right balance of loose structure and non-involvement from the police. One hopes that will continue. The only negative I can see is that the event highlighted to me a lack of diversity in that area. I'd like to see this event expand to other neighborhoods during different times of the year. I feel like establishing a community experience that involves all backgrounds and economic situations could really accomplish something special in areas where there is diversity but not a lot of interaction amongst the diverse segments. Kid-oriented events with bouncy castles and the like really do not help in this vein. Instead, Porchfest was more of an adult event that was still great and inviting to the entire family.

PorchFest is officially happening again this year in the West Plaza neighborhood. It will be father's day weekend again- June 13th. This time it won't have to compete w/ Boulevardia- as I believe that has been pushed back a week.

They are aiming for 70 bands again- I believe they already have 30 signed up.

It will be an hour longer this time (noon- 5pm) and a block wider in girth---so as to help a little with spacing.

Spring/summer fever anyone?

http://www.porchfestkc.com/

Father's Day this year is actually June 21, so good news - Porchfest is the weekend before.

kcjak wrote:Father's Day this year is actually June 21, so good news - Porchfest is the weekend before.

Ah, so the switch is in reverse. PorchFest early and Boulevardia still the weekend of father's day.

Good news either way not to have that conflict! Mostly I think this will help with the presence of food trucks at PorchFest--which is the only I think was missing last year.

Moving to the Valentine hood.

http://kcur.org/post/porchfestkc-announ ... e#stream/0

It would be nice if someone like KC Life would open up there parking lot for this event

Uptown Shoppes has the rooftop parking. They should also encourage taking bus in ads/flyers by listing nearby bus lines. Also maybe try to get Uber as a sponsor, posted in ads/flyers as well. Homes could always offer paid parking in their driveways or even backyards if they want.

brewcrew1000 wrote:It would be nice if someone like KC Life would open up there parking lot for this event

Or better yet, open up their front porch for a show.

grovester wrote:

brewcrew1000 wrote:It would be nice if someone like KC Life would open up there parking lot for this event

Or better yet, open up their front porch for a show.

That would be pretty sweet. KC Life does have one of the nicest "Porches" in town

Still one of my favorite community events.

Expanded to Roanoke this year, best opportunity to check out cool houses with great background music.

Having to cross SW trafficway was kind of a pain. Maybe just have it all in roanoake next year would be better. Thought it was a little too spread out this year.