TACOMA, Wash. — A lot of people like to say they live in quiet neighborhoods. Like that's a good thing. But on a recent weekend in central Tacoma, fifty bands turned on their amps, tuned up their instruments, and cranked out music.
It was all part of a celebration called Porchfest, co-organized by Irina Rasputnis.
"Porchfest is a free, walkable music festival that takes place on people's porches all in the central Tacoma neighborhood," she said. "We've got 30 porches and 50 bands performing. We've got some established Tacoma bands that gig around town and play up in Seattle and down in Portland and there's also quite a bit of folks who play in the backyard with their buddies. So it's quite a mix."
Porchfest was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 2007 and spread nationwide. There's another Porchfest in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood every summer.
The best thing about Porchfest, we discovered, is that once you've had your fill of music from one act, you only need to walk past a few houses on the same block, before you're hearing something else.
Eduardo Alarcon has been playing big band and salsa music on his porch since the start of the pandemic. So, naturally, he was the first to sign up for Porchfest in his own neighborhood. His husband refilled the bubble machine while Alarcon performed.
"I've been playing by ear since my grandmother taught me how to play piano," he said. "We are so lucky we are living in this neighborhood because everybody is wonderful. Everybody knows each other. Everybody in the morning says 'Hi.'"
A few blocks away, rapper Ryan Steele, born with fetal alcohol syndrome, drew the same sized crowds and received just as much encouragement as everyone else.
"Everybody is taking care of each other," Alarcon said. "Making this happen is just wonderful."
"Porchfest is a great way just to get people walking around, talking to their neighbors, meeting their neighbors and walking across each other's yards all while listening to great music," Rasputnis added.
Tacoma News Tribune columnist Matt Driscoll tweeted a one sentence review of the event. He wrote "So Porchfest is officially the coolest thing that’s ever happened in our neighborhood."
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