Yet another live music event is coming to Denver’s Baker neighborhood — but this time, the stages are neighborhood porches.
A group of volunteers is working to bring PorchFest to life in Denver. Porch festivals feature live musical acts performing in front yards of neighborhood homes. The format has become popular nationwide after first exploding in Ithaca, New York, in 2007.
Bradley Schwartz is leading the charge for Denver’s PorchFest. He said he was inspired by the Virginia Highland District PorchFest in Atlanta, where his band Five Minutes Out recently played. He was shocked Denver didn’t have a similar event.
“There are so many local bands that are great and they play constantly at all the small venues here,” Schwartz said. “And then obviously … people in Denver love this type of stuff.”
Here’s what PorchFest could look like.
Organizers have already landed on Oct. 3 for the inaugural PorchFest. For the past few weeks, they’ve been talking with neighborhood groups, musicians and potential venues as they plan the lineup.
Schwartz said they chose the Baker neighborhood because of its rich history of live music. The neighborhood is home to many local music venues, and even though it lost the Underground Music Showcase to the River North Arts District, new music festival Blucifer’s First Rodeo quickly emerged to take its place.
“It's just a really musical, artsy community,” Schwartz said of Baker.
Organizers have reserved Dailey Park to act as the “headquarters” of the event, where there will be food, retail vendors and more.
They also hope to close surrounding blocks to traffic. Currently, they’re trying to raise awareness in hopes that people will volunteer their homes in south Baker for shows. The team hopes to find 15 to 20 porches across Baker.
Attendees would have to pay for a ticket, but the festival’s website said it would only cost $20, which would pay the musicians and get attendees some swag and coupons.
“It's really just so that we can cover our expenses and pay musicians fairly,” Schwartz said.
After the event — which Schwartz envisions as a community-focused, family-friendly block party — he hopes to throw separately ticketed events at venues on Broadway to keep the party going.
The lineup will be announced in September.
The organizers share a similar goal with another new local music festival.
Schwartz, a software developer by trade, said the festival is being entirely organized by volunteers who won’t get paid.
“We're doing it for the love of the game, I guess,” he said.
After paying for expenses and artists, they hope to set aside a small fund to carry over into next year’s event. Leftover money will go toward East 7th Arts, a local nonprofit that provides art and music therapy for children with autism.
Schwartz said organizing started in earnest less than two months ago, after Blucifer’s First Rodeo was announced. He’s been in touch with that event’s organizers — hoping to learn from another first-time music festival.
He said their goals are aligned — highlighting local music acts and celebrating the Broadway district.
“There's local music happening all the time. All these bands are awesome,” he said. “It's arguably, I think it's more fun to go to a small venue and be 10 feet from the stage, personally.”
