Porchfest is the little festival that had a big debut this year in Montreal. In a city known for its major outdoor celebrations, such as the International Jazz Festival and the Comedy Festival, this one was more local and low-key, but already, it is being copied elsewhere.
ListenA porch, or a veranda, is the outdoor area at the main entrance of a home, and the west-end neighbourhood of Notre Dame de Grace, aka NDG, in Montreal, is blessed with many inviting porches, and just enough lawn to help people feel welcome to settle in for a little musical interlude.
Singers and groups set up whatever equipment they needed, at different addresses, and from midday to 4 pm, neighbours came and went on foot, by bycicle, and some even in cars, to take it all in.
At the end of the day a barbecue took place at one address, and those gathered made a cash donation of C$300 to the local food bank.
Aurora Robinson is the organizer, and she says she’s already had enquiries from a neighbourhood on the far side of the city. And, she notes, Van Kleek Hill, a small community in Ontario near the border with the province of Quebec, is undertaking their Porchfest later this summer.
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