by Maya Gold and Drew Schneider

Spring is here! The cherry blossoms bloomed, the sun is shining, and nearly 100 bands are warming up for the first annual Petworth Porchfest. This Saturday, April 24th, local bands from the area are scheduled to perform on porches around Petworth from 2 - 6 pm.

Here’s how you can take in all the free music…

The event will start at the “main stage” set up at 843 Upshur Street NW at 1:30pm with remarks from Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson. Then the music kicks off on Upshur and around the neighborhood.

Finding Rhythm Collective will be performing for kids on Upshur Street at 3:45pm

Main Stage lineup:

2pm: Uptown XO (Hip Hop — 2021 Wammie Award Winner Best Hip Hop Album)
2:45pm: Luke Stewart (Jazz)
3:45pm: Finding Rhythm Collective ( Kids’ music, fuses brain science with an original score inspired by DC's Go-Go music)
4:30pm Maggie Yacoub (Middle Eastern Jazz fusion)
5:15pm Marcelle Pena (Bossa Nova/Brazilian)

There’s music everywhere!
With almost 100 bands performing on porches around the neighborhood, there’s definitely something for everyone. Acts include everything from an old-time Appalachian square dance band to a Middle Eastern jazz fusion group. Each artist is playing for at least 45 minutes, but may perform longer as time and their hosts permit.

Roosevelt High School will be hosting two quartets with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. The first set will take place from 1:30pm to 2:30pm, and the 2nd set will take place from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. (Roosevelt will also have an enrollment event on April 24th from 10am to 2pm.)

Check out the Petworth PorchFest schedule with addresses, band names and genres:

To see which houses are hosting bands, check out the Petworth Porchfest Map:

Stay social with Porchfest and create a historical archive with #petworthporchfest
To learn more about the bands and get up-to-date information about the event, follow Petworth Porchfest on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Use #petworthporchfest to tag photos and posts — organizers can’t be everywhere at once, so they’re asking people to upload photos and video to Instagram with that tag.

This amazing neighborhood event is sponsored by Timber Pizza, Ryan DaSilva from Compass Realty, and Rabih Chamas from Greenline Real Estate — and made possible by an amazing group of volunteers, including Tom Pipkin from Pipkin Creative, ANC 4C Commissioners Clara Botstein and Paul Johnson, Tolu Igun, Kait Hildner and Maya Gold. Organizers also thank Creative Couch Designs (Maria Mandle) and Bailer Designs (Laurie Bailer) for the logo design!

What if there’s RAIN?
If it looks like the weather will rain on the event, Petworth News will post an update, as will the official PorchFest social media accounts. Rain date is the next day, Sunday 4/25, 2-6pm.