West Bayfront PorchFest highlights Erie musicians, neighborhood

West Bayfront PorchFest aims to bring people together for good music in good locations in Erie for free.

"It's a great way to feature local musicians and a lovely neighborhood," Chuck Nelson, one of the organizers of this year's PorchFest, said.

The event will take place Saturday, with the first performers starting at noon and the last at 5 p.m. at locations in Erie's west bayfront neighborhood. Gridley Park, at North Park Avenue and Liberty Street, will serve as a central location with PorchFest maps available, T-shirts for sale and local food trucks.

Nelson said PorchFest is a way to bring neighbors together, introduce other people to the neighborhood and provide live local music in a variety of styles and genres. He said performers and hosts had to apply and organizers visited potential host sites before matching them with performers.

Sites range from West Second Street to West Ninth Street, between Washington Place and Myrtle Street. PorchFest organizers encouraged people to walk, bike or take a city trolley between performance locations. Nelson said the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority trolley will make free loops around the sites.

Festivalgoers can take chairs to sit in but are asked to not block sidewalks and streets.

A previous event, known as Old Town Porch Fest, had been coordinated by Tom Maggio.

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Who is performing and where?

Here's the schedule for West Bayfront PorchFest 2023:

Noon

323 W. Second St.: Ben Robson

519 W. Sixth St.: Phunkademic

930 W. 10th St.: Logan B & Dirty Leaf

627 W. Ninth: Jesse Taylor Smith

406 Walnut St.: Doc Proto

1 p.m.

613 W. Seventh St: This American Song

357 W. Fourth St.: Box of Chocolates

323 W. Sixth St.: PianoPunk!!

1116 W. Seventh St.: V Band

2 p.m.

205 Liberty St.: Elle Taylor Band

606 Raspberry St.: Mark & Dan

629 Cherry St.: Saturn to Brazil

1132 W. Ninth St.: Julia Hamilton

3 p.m.

518 W. Ninth St.: Division Street Machine

334 W. Eighth St.: Brittany Morton

4 p.m.

716 N. Park Ave.: Dumpster Garden

202 Cherry St.: Psych Patrol

440 W. Eighth St.: Frontier

1262 W. Ninth St.: The Old Guys

603 W. Sixth St.: The Bayfront Boys

5 p.m.

Hagen History Center, 356 W. Sixth St.: Familiar Spirit Band

For more information, visit ourwestbayfront.org/events/porchfest-2023.

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Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PorchFest brings music to Erie's West Bayfront neighborhood