The city of Napa has a Porchfest, and our neighbors to the southeast in Benicia have one too. The city of St. Helena was trying to have a Porchfest, but the city declined to let that happen, which is kind of similar to the Sebastopol Porchfest situation. But, before we get into all of that, what the name of my long-dead Okie grannie’s name is a Porchfest?
No, it’s not a gathering of fogies in rocking chairs sitting on their porch talking about current events. Rather, a Porchfest is a community gathering wherein musicians take over the front porches—by invitation and with permission, of course—of a local street and perform their music for people of all ages to gather and have fun with their community.
Unfortunately, at last year’s Sebastopol Porchfest, the city’s first, attendees had a little too much fun. That, in turn, has resulted in this year’s festivities making a move to Ives Park in Sebastopol and also pivoting to a new, temporary name, Hardly Porchfest Sebastopol, which takes place Saturday, Sept. 13, from noon to 6pm. There’s also an added bonus this year, as the party will move on over to the Sebastopol Center for the Arts from 7 to 8pm, with local artists Ellie James and Flowstone capping off the event.
The Sebastopol event was brought to life last year by Greg “Ceni” Ceniceroz, who saw what other communities were doing with this fun event and wanted to bring it home. Using his very own street and community as the launching pad, Ceniceroz says the event was kind of a natural addition to the already vibrant High Street in Sebastopol.
Speaking by email, he said, “High Street has a long history of community-building events involving music and food. Like many other neighborhoods in this town, we used to have annual block parties and close the street off to vehicle traffic for neighbors to congregate and commiserate safely.”
This all started way back in 2004 with Sonoma County mainstays Sol Horizon taking to the street to perform. These block parties continued for many years, and smaller versions of them still happen today. “For example, there’s a monthly ‘Unhappy’ hour where anyone can kvetch about whatever irks them for three minutes, some topical speaker-gilded salons and other general meetings related to the community,” Ceniceroz said.
As alluded to, last year was the first official Sebastopol Porchfest, and overall, the event and the vibe were a rousing success. However, a few neighbors were, shall we say “displeased,” with some attendees smoking the marijuana as well as relieving themselves in neighborhood yards.
While Ceniceroz empathizes with this issue, the Porchfest board took the complaints to heart. Finding themselves unable to honestly tell the city of Sebastopol that these issues would be addressed in time for this year’s event, they decided to move away from the specific neighborhood porch concept for 2025.
Ceniceroz, who is listed as founder and director of the event, is clearly saddened by the move, saying, “It is devastating to me, personally.” He added he’s dismayed “the benefits of Porchfest are not seen as a boon to the local fabric of our town. One can research other Porchfests across the country to read about the positive aspects that other towns have experienced from these events.”
While fans of the Porchfest event and concept are notably bummed, it’s refreshing to hear Ceniceroz and his board take ownership of the issues that negatively affected the event and their community.
Said Ceniceroz, “Look, there are people in every neighborhood who will always say ‘no’ to any new proposal. Be it new signage, traffic calming devices or a contract for a new trash company, for example. We all know that; it’s human nature.” He continued, “But it’s true we dropped the ball on giving ample opportunity for everyone to actually come to the table with their grievances. [That way] issues can be addressed, risks can be reduced and fears can be mitigated. This is part of our learning process as a community organization.”
With the old adage, “Live and Learn,” firmly in place, Ceniceroz said, “We are adapting and iterating to make this event happen in a way that sustains our community. Because of the positive feedback and gratitude of so many people in this town, I wanted the ‘show to go on’ in any way possible. Taking a year off due to a few dissonant voices was simply not an option.”
And indeed, the show is going on with nearly 40 bands on tap, including Marshall House Project, Lola Guthrie, Ulyssescím, Julia Hunt, Mazon Mendoza, Barbed Wire Valentine, Peyton Roze, Lady Bloom, Matty Tucker, Sonomaçana, Under A New Sun, 945 The Band, Brittany Aquamarine, Gradina, Clementine Darling, Mazie Lewis, Doron Amiran, House Catz, Dantana, Roots Fusion, SPACE, Sloan Irving, Petrified Sun and Bohemian Highway, just to name but a few.
As Ceniceroz noted, “The day will mainly be music-forward, but there will be some sponsor booths and community group tents scattered around the park. There will also be some roving performances by the Hubbub Club and Circle Sing Sebastopol.”
While there is a deep group of volunteers for the event and a board with members Elizabeth Beaty, Joe Halpin, Eric Lofchie and Ann Hamilton, the acts are all hand-selected by Ceniceroz. He said, “I’ve been running the Open Mic at HopMonk Sebastopol for nine years, so I’ve been exposed to a lot of local music. Every month or so, I get to host a show for my ‘Casa Ceni Presents’ series in the Abbey for acts who may not get the opportunity to play in traditional for-profit venues that are based on ticket sales.”
This is why some of the bigger name acts of our fair county aren’t participating, at least not this year.
While at the time of this writing, some kinks were being worked out, the event will take place at several “Porchlet” stages throughout Ives Park, including two acoustic stages, five amplified stages, as well as a stage dedicated to performers from Santa Rosa’s School of Rock program, which teaches young people the art of rocking and rolling.
The event is free and all ages, with food trucks located nearby, as well as a wine and beer garden. The aforementioned evening event has a $10 cover charge. Organizers want to remind readers that the capacity at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts venue is only 250 people, so advance tickets are encouraged.
For more information or to volunteer for the event or make a tax deductible donation, check out sebastopolporchfest.org.
