Binghamton Porchfest is, “A free celebration of community, music, and togetherness, Porchfest is the grassroots collaborative effort of hundreds of individual musicians and dozens of resident hosts of the West Side neighborhood of Binghamton (specifically the including and directly surrounding the historic Abel Bennett Tract) who get together on the last Sunday of every August to boogie down with their neighbors to the sounds of over 100 musical acts, presented on the front porches, stoops, and lawns of volunteering homes and businesses. Based on a grassroots, decentralized festival model created by residents of Ithaca, NY in 2007—which has since led to over 100 similar independently operated festivals across the US and Canada.
—Binghamton Porchfest turns stoops into stages, yards into venues, neighbors into promoters, and the West Side into a gigantic celebration of community togetherness. Kind of like a giant block party, but with more blocks, more bands, and less mac salad sitting in the heat. Dozens of residents offer up the use of their front porches to hundreds of different musicians who perform over the course of seven hours to thousands of attendees who spend their afternoon meandering the neighborhood by foot, bike, jazzy scooter, or unicycle. While it’s happening, the neighborhood is welcome to make of it what they will: in past years, we’ve seen people offer lemonade stands, garage sales, impromptu break dance showcases, and magic shows, just to name a few. Sky’s the limit!”