On Nov. 6 starting at noon, Springfield Historic District’s porches will be alive with more than just the rich history of the neighborhood: live music from over 100 performers will fill the air from house porches. 

PorchFest, a community music festival, will bring local bands and vendors together to create the community’s event of the year. Residents will open their porches and homes to performers and visitors, along with food and alcohol vendors.

“What’s really cool about it is Springfield really showcases its personality that day,” says Kelly Rich, executive director of Springfield Preservation and Revitalization, 

Organization, which supports the historic neighborhood that’s just north of downtown Jacksonville. “We’re really well known for our social aspects and the front porch identity is very accurate and representative of the neighborhood. There will be a lot of house parties and porch parties to celebrate.”

PorchFest, at its core, is a tribute to the people and places that make Springfield Historic District’s community thrive. The event’s donations go back into the arts, and gives residents the opportunity to showcase their pride in their restorations and preservations in the historic community.

Residents can be seen tending to their gardens and yards, Rich says, ready to open their neighborhood to a wider community.

“What makes it even more special is the entire neighborhood claims host to it,” Rich says. “So knowing that we’re gonna have all these eyes in the neighborhood, it’s kind of magical to see everyone working together for the betterment of the Springville neighborhood, because they’re just so proud of their home.”

For this year’s event, PorchFest is presenting over 100 performers, all with different specialties and sounds. The groups will be strategically placed far enough apart so that sounds won’t be overlapping.

“We try to really hit a wide, diverse music lineup so we can hit all sorts of audiences that can find some sort of music they might [enjoy],” Rich says. “We have everything from blues and folk to a brass band to R&B.”

The idea for PorchFest was inspired eight years ago, and after the first year’s surprise success the event was handed to SPAR.

“We’re really excited to bring it back to the neighborhood,” Rich says. “We had a really successful festival in 2019 — we had about 17,000 people in the neighborhood that day.”

Last year’s PorchFest was canceled due to the pandemic, and while the event is still taking into consideration the state of Covid-19, the outdoor event will lead toward the comfort of normalcy. 

“I do feel that people are clamoring for community events, ways to safely gather,” Rich says. “And to get to [a] level of normalcy they’ve been missing.”

PorchFest is free to attend, but they welcome donations as all the event’s performers are paid and all proceeds from the event go back into enhancing the district’s local arts.

“We pay all of our performers, so that’s something we’re really proud of — that we’re able to pay about 150 performers, all together,” Rich says. “For the past seven years, you can kind of see this timeline of public art, such as murals, sculptures, mosaics that have been put back into the neighborhood, supporting local artists as well, that were funded by PorchFest.”

PorchFest is Nov. 2 from 12-8 p.m. The event is located at 1321 North Main Street Jacksonville, and is free to attend. Visit the event’s page here.

PorchFest: 1321 North Main Street Jacksonville, FL; jacksonvilleporchfest.org // @jaxporchfest