Front Porch music ready to play again

Mike Grant, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 16—The streets of Washington will be filled with the sounds of music Oct. 20 and 21 as the Front Porch Music Festival returns for the fourth year.

The event will include music performances all around the downtown area.

"The idea behind this is to support local talent, local artists and local musicians. We are so rich in talent in Daviess County and the surrounding area and this is a chance to spotlight them," said organizer Steve Belcher. "It is also educational. We want people to learn and appreciate different kinds of music."

The festival will feature short performances along Main Street, Walnut, Van Trees, Seventh and Eighth Street starting Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and running until 10:45 p.m.

The activities on Saturday will start at 9 a.m. at the Christ United Methodist Church.

"From 9 until 4 Saturday at Christ United Methodist Church we will have artists in action and music from all kinds of genres," said Belcher. "We'll have steel drums, Irish music, we will have swing dance lessons at the church. There will also be art activities for the kids, face painting and balloon twisting at the church.

"Then we go out to the porches at 4. Each musician plays for about 45 minutes and then you move to the next porch."

Belcher points out that the event began during the pandemic year and went from a small beginning to a much larger event.

"We started in the pandemic year and we had six porches and six musicians. This year we have 12 porches and over 20 musicians," he said, and it will once again include the fiddler on the roof. "One of the favorites, instead of a porch we have a violinist appearing on a balcony doing music from Fiddler on the Roof. That is one the public really likes."

The Front Porch Festival is one of the projects being planned by the Arts Unleashed.

"We have a lot of plans coming up including a Christmas concert on December 10 and next June we are planning Washington's first annual Christian Woodstock," said Belcher.

Belcher says one of the keys to putting on the event is the community backing.

"We are thankful for all of the sponsors that have stepped up to support the event," he said.