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Howdy, neighbors!

Happy new year from Porchfest HQ. We just wanted to share a little save-the-date with you: Ithaca’s TENTH annual Porchfest will take place on Sunday, September 18, 2016.

Yep. TEN. Hard to believe, right? Ten years of being amazed by this wonderful thing we’ve built with our incredibly enthusiastic neighbors and Ithaca’s wealth of great musicians.

Put it on your calendar now, and we’ll see you in September.

Lesley, Gretchen & Andy

Everything you need to know about Porchfest 2015:

Porchfest, as most of you know, is tomorrow, Sunday, Sept 27, from 12-6 PM. We wanted to make sure everyone has all the information they’ll need to have a great time! Please share this with anyone you may know who’s coming from outside the neighborhood.

* Who’s performing, where and when?
Performer list + descriptions: http://porchfest.org/2015-musicians/
Schedule by time + interactive map: http://porchfest.org/2015-schedule/

We will also, as always, have printed map + schedule booklets available for free at Thompson Park, as well as the former Neighborhood Pride site at 210 Hancock Street.

And you can check the schedule on your phone! Go to http://porchfest.org/m for a mobile device-friendly version.

* Will there be anything to eat?
You bet! See the many options here: http://porchfest.org/food

* What about restrooms?
Tabernacle Baptist Church, at the corner of Cayuga and Lincoln streets, will make its restrooms available to the public for the duration of Porchfest. Additionally, there will be port-a-johns at the following locations:
– Thompson Park
– 210 Hancock Street
– 920 N Cayuga St (at Jay St)
– 202 E Falls St (provided by Northstar House)

* What streets will be closed?
We’re closing all of Utica Street this year, so it can act as a thoroughfare for pedestrians and bicycles. We strongly encourage all Porchfest attendees to use Utica to walk/bike through the neighborhood as much as possible, to ease congestion on Cayuga, Tioga and Aurora streets. (And if you normally park on Utica Street, we suggest moving your car Saturday night; volunteers will be available to escort vehicles out of the closed areas, but it’ll be slow going.)

Additionally, the following sections of street will be closed to traffic::
– E Jay Street, from Cayuga Street to Tioga Street
– Linn Street, from King Street to Tompkins Street
– E Marshall Street, from Utica Street to Tioga Street and from Tioga Street to Aurora Street (Tioga will remain open in between)
– Cascadilla Avenue, from Cayuga Street to Tioga Street
– from Lake Ave and Yates Street to W Marshall Street and Cayuga Street
– Auburn Street from Tompkins Street to Yates Street

You can see a map of these street closures at http://porchfest.org/street-closings-2015/

* Where can I buy a t-shirt?
T-shirts — which include the names of all performers, as well as this year’s lovely Porchfest artwork — will be available at our information booth in Thompson Park. We don’t make a ton of them, so get yours while they last! All profits go back into making Porchfest happen.

And hey, while we’re on the topic: donations are welcome too. Porchfest’s expenses include insurance, permit fees, map printing, t-shirts for volunteers, truck rental to set up traffic barricades, supplies for sign painting, and more. Nobody involved in organizing Porchfest makes a dime, and in fact, we’ve wound up making up the difference when Porchfest falls short. So if you’ve got a few extra bucks to throw in the hat, we’d very much appreciate it. There will be a donation jar at the info table, or you can pay with a credit card or bank account via PayPal at http://porchfest.org/donate

* Whom can I contact if there’s a problem during Porchfest?
Is someone playing too loudly? Playing outside their scheduled time, and conflicting with other performers? Issues with traffic barricades? If you need to reach us during Porchfest, you can email info@porchfest.org or call/text this number: 607-269-5106. Any method will reach all three of us, and we’ll respond as soon as possible. (Texting often works better than calling, as we’re out enjoying the music too, and sometimes it’s hard to hear or speak during a performance.)

HERE WE GO!

Andy, Gretchen + Lesley

Ithaca’s ninth annual Porchfest on Sunday, September 27, will feature 176 performers around the Fall Creek and Northside neighborhoods. Annual favorites like The Gunpoets, Not From Wisconsin, Mosaic Foundation, Anna Coogan, NEO Project and many more will return, as well as a number of new faces, including two dance troupes, a live performance of the music from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. video game arranged for saxophone trio, and a self-explanatory act called 1 Hour of Knock Knock Jokes (with upright bass accompaniment, naturally). See the full performer list here.

FOOD TRUCKS AND BAKE SALES: Food options will abound during the festival this year. Porchfest sponsor Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services / Better Housing for Tompkins County is organizing a food truck round-up in the parking lot at 210 Hancock Street, featuring a variety of cuisine from The Good Truck (tacos), Star Truck (vegetarian comfort food), Gabriella’s Farm To Fork, Silo Truck (fried chicken), Alexander’s (homestyle cuisine), and Bici Cocina (authentic Colombian street food). Additionally, the Fall Creek Elementary School PTA will host a bake sale during Porchfest, with proceeds going toward a new sound system for the school gymnasium/auditorium.

SIGN PAINTING PARTY: The annual Porchfest sign painting party will take place on Sunday, September 20, as part of the Streets Alive! event on Ithaca’s Southside. Stay tuned to Porchfest’s website, email list and social media channels for exact location. The decorative wooden yard signs at performers’ houses are a beloved tradition of the event.

STREET CLOSURES: All of Utica Street will close to vehicular traffic this year, so the street can function as a pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfare during Porchfest. All pedestrians and cyclists are encouraged to use Utica Street to move north and south through the neighborhood between performance locations, to ease overcrowding on Cayuga, Tioga and Aurora streets. Other small sections of street will be closed as follows:
• E Jay Street, from Cayuga Street to Tioga Street
• Linn Street, from King Street to Tompkins Street
• Cascadilla Avenue, from Cayuga Street to Tioga Street
• from Lake Ave and Yates Street to W Marshall Street and Cayuga Street
• Auburn Street from Tompkins Street to Yates Street
• E Marshall Street, from Utica Street to Tioga Street and Tioga Street to Aurora Street (Tioga remains open in between)

See www.porchfest.org for a map of street closures.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Additional volunteers are still needed for Porchfest, to help ensure pedestrian safety and reasonable performance volumes during the event. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for a two-hour shift now at porchfest.org/volunteer. Perks for volunteers include having their name in the printed Porchfest program book and a free Porchfest Volunteer t-shirt, as well as the soul-warming knowledge that they’ve made an important contribution to a beloved community event.

A GROWING PHENOMENON: The number of new Porchfests around North America has grown by at least ten in 2015, including new upstate New York entries in Binghamton and Oswego. See the full list of more than three dozen known Porchfests in other cities at porchfest.org/porchfests-elsewhere.

Ithaca’s Fall Creek/Northside Neighborhood Music Festival Returns for Ninth Year as Concept Continues To Spread Internationally

Performer Signups Open August 1

July 24, 2015 — Porchfest, the annual music festival in Ithaca’s Fall Creek and Northside neighborhoods, will return for its ninth year on Sunday, September 27, 2015. Local musicians of all ages and genres will take to the porches of Fall Creek for an afternoon celebrating Ithaca’s wealth of local musical talent. Performer signups will open at www.porchfest.org on August 1 and continue through August 31; all who wish to perform are welcome.

The first Porchfest took place in Ithaca in 2007 after Fall Creek neighbors Lesley Greene and Gretchen Hildreth created the idea. (Third organizer Andy Adelewitz joined the team in 2013.) The number of performers has grown steadily by about 20 per year, growing from 20 that first year to 160 in 2014. Additionally, the Porchfest concept has spread throughout the U.S. and Canada, with more than 30 similar neighborhood festivals sprouting from Portland, Maine to Jacksonville, Florida to San Francisco to Vancouver and beyond — including at least four new events in 2015. See a full list of known Porchfests here.

Ithaca’s Porchfest is growing its volunteer corps considerably in 2015, in order to ensure pedestrian safety during the busy event. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for a two-hour shift now at porchfest.org/volunteer. Perks for volunteers include having their name in the printed Porchfest program book and a free Porchfest Volunteer t-shirt, as well as the soul-warming knowledge that they’ve made an important contribution to a beloved community event.

This year’s original Porchfest artwork was created by local illustrator Carmel Rome, and can be seen at porchfest.org and on Porchfest’s social media sites. The artwork will also be featured on Porchfest’s printed program booklets and merchandise.

Porchfest 2015 is sponsored by longtime partner Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (ithacanhs.org), a non-profit community development corporation whose mission is to revitalize Ithaca’s neighborhoods, encouraging stability and diversity, and to help people of modest incomes obtain affordable housing on a long-term basis. INHS has recently partnered with Better Housing for Tompkins County (betterhousingtc.org), and together they are increasing quality housing opportunities for Tompkins County and beyond.

# # #

www.porchfest.org

facebook.com/porchfest

twitter.com/porchfestithaca

For more information on Porchfest, please contact
Lesley Greene, Gretchen Hildreth and Andy Adelewitz | info@porchfest.org

Plenty of food available during Porchfest tomorrow!

* The First Baptist Church (309 N Cayuga St @ Dewitt Park) will have burgers, hot dogs, and a beer tent. (All for sale, a fundraiser for the church.) Also a Porchfest performance venue!

* There will be free cookies + lemonade at Tabernacle Baptist Church (1019 N Cayuga St @ Lincoln St).

* Lemonade, baked goods, pears, popcorn, and perhaps some other items at the corner of Franklin and Short streets. 100% of the donated proceeds go to the The Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes.

* Paulie’s Global Kitchen (corner of Cayuga + Yates) is a food truck selling falafel, tacos, soup and other yummy treats and some beverages.

* The Good Truck (Cayuga St @ Thompson Park) will offer local and seasonal Mexican-inspired tacos and more.

* If you’re up for more of a sit-down experience, Northstar House (202 E Falls St @ Tioga St) will be open. (Please note, the restrooms inside are for customers only, but they’ll have a port-a-john outside for any and all, because they’re nice people like that.)

The following streets will be closed from 11 AM to 6 PM on Sunday for Porchfest:

* Utica St between Lewis and Lincoln streets
* Jay St between Cayuga and Tioga streets
* Linn St between Tompkins + King streets
* Auburn St between Tompkins + Yates streets
* Cascadilla Ave between Cayuga and Tioga streets
* from Willow Ave and Yates Street around the bend to Marshall and Cayuga streets
* Marshall St from Utica to Tioga streets, and from Tioga to Aurora streets (Tioga Street remains open to through traffic)

Map:

The Porchfest 2014 schedule is here! See below for the chronological schedule, and see the 2014 Musicians page for addresses + more info on the performers. Printable + mobile-friendly versions coming very soon. See you on Sunday!

12:00 – 1:00 PM:
Aidan O’Brien
Astro Hawk & Friends
Better Barn Burning Bureau
Brothers MacRae
Buffalo Horns of Ithaca
Cornell Ukulele Club
danny speer
Dying Breed
Fall Crikkers Jug Band
Jeremy K Betterley
Kites In Space
Laura J Peters
Lily And Matt
Me and Matt
Purple Valley
Ryan Vanderhoof
Samuel B Lupowitz & The Ego Band
Selrach Ztrawhcsa’s Electrorchestra
Seneca St Recorder Ensemble
Two Ks
Zaccariah Lisle

1:00 – 2:00 PM:
14 Strings!
Andrew Alling
Cats Elbow
Commons Crossing
Craig Frey
Crown City Brass
David Graybeard Band
Doolin O’Dey
Eleven Maples
Harmony Falls Chorus
Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus
Katatonics
KennyT & WildFire
KillingHerMemory
King Street Ramblers
Long John and the Tights
Mad Goat String Band
Muckland Crooners
North Country Blues Band
Pelotones
Persimmon and The Tiger
Pierce Walsh
PJ & GWilley & Co
Rich Recchia
Songwriters in the Round
Sophia Maranca
Ukulelese as a Second Language (part 1: Auntie Emo’s Ukulele Workshop)

2:00 – 3:00 PM:
Answer the Muse
Bert Scholl & Friends
Cornell Gamelan Ensemble
Dancin Feldman
Eva Barnett & Friends
Grass Fed
Greywolfband
Immortal Jellyfish
Ithaca Cats
Ithaca College Wind Ensemble
Jody Kessler
Leeann and Gary Reynolds
Mary Bentley and Rosie
Mary Lorson
Moment Generator
MonkeySquids
NBR
Not From Wisconsin
Old Time Jam
Professor Tuesday’s Jazz Quartet
Richie Holtz (and maybe some friends)
richie stearns and friends
Ruddy Well Band
Sweet Freaks
TRAONACH
Travis Knapp
Ukulele Bob
Ukulelese As a Second Language

3:00 – 4:00 PM:
abandon my head
Bill, Sammy, Todd, and Matt
Burns And Kristy Band
Diamonds in the Rough
Diana Leigh, Ed Clute, & Brian Earle
Ella Sarachan
Ephemera
Falconers
Funkswag Factor
Geronimo Line
Glacial Erotics
HAL
Hilltoppers
Insect Brigade
Jay Street Suzuki Violinists
JazzHappensBand
Johnny Dowd
Jon Kaplan
JustUs
Lucky Old Sun
Mad Cow Tippers
Old Time Jam
Spacetrain
Sum Dude & Friends
TalkCrazy
Tyrannical Vegetable
WonderMonday

4:00 – 5:00 PM:
Anna Coogan and Willie B
Bridgewater
Cielle & All Sounds On
Comfort Ave
Djug Django
Dogs Outside the Pavilion
Dos XX
Fall Creek Bluegrass Partners
Gogone
Grassanova
Head Band
In the Dream
Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus
Jenny Stockdale
Jill McCracken & The Last Hoorah
Marty Farchione
Mostly Mandolin Quartet
Music’s Recreation
Nate & Kate
Nefarious Nuns & Friends
Newman Bros
Old Time Jam
Peaches and Crime
See Horse Run
Small Kings
State & Plain
Sugarlumps
Sundown Sally
Susan Lytle & Will Fudeman
Timothy Weber
Violin Students of Sarah Cummings

5:00 – 6:00 PM:
18 Strings Of Luv
Athena’s Grove Chamber Ensemble
Big UpState
Black is Green
Cozmic Theo
Dew Bye Drifters
Edmund’s Ivy
Emily Yates
Five2
Fly Rods
Gabriel and Friends
Gadje
George Prounis
Grey Gary
Gunpoets
ICO Brass Quintet
Isaac Sharp
La No
Maplewood Jazz Team
Mosaic Foundation
Mossy Top
Redrail Rider
Scratched Vinyl
Stephen Pavia
Stone Cold Miracle
Tenzin Chopak
Thru Spectrums

Read all about this year’s Porchfest performers here! Just 12 days to go — we’ll have the full schedule and map soon.

Sweep off your porches and re-string your mandolins, Fall Creek folks: this year’s eighth edition of Porchfest will take place on Sunday, September 14! Performers are now welcome to sign up — anyone who wants to play and has a Fall Creek porch (front yard, driveway, etc.) to play on is welcome. Just fill out the form here.

We will continue taking submissions throughout August.

Porchfest has grown substantially every year, and after last year, it was clear that everyone felt pulled in too many directions at once. So this year, we’re expanding from four time slots to six, starting at noon and continuing until 6 PM! That means more music, and hopefully, fewer of those anguished moments when you want to see two (or three, or twelve) performers at the same time who are playing several blocks apart.

We’re getting excited just writing this post, and hopefully you’re getting just as excited reading it! So please spread the word, and keep an eye on our website, Facebook, Twitter, or this email list for more information soon.

– The Porchfest People (Lesley, Gretchen & Andy)

Need a snack during Porchfest tomorrow? Look for the stand some Fall Creek neighbors are setting up at the corner of Franklin and Short streets, where they’ll have apricots, plums, and apples (courtesy of the Fingerlakes Fruit Bowl), apple cider donut holes, popcorn, hot coffee and cocoa, and of course, lemonade. All proceeds go to the Cancer Resource Center!