Ithaca’s 10th annual Porchfest is this Sunday, September 18, from 12-6 PM. Here’s everything you need to know!

* Who’s performing, where and when?



Performer list + descriptions

Schedule by time

Interactive map

We will also, as always, have printed map + schedule booklets available for free at Thompson Park, as well as our volunteers around the neighborhood.

And you can check the schedule on your phone! Go to http://porchfest.org/m for a mobile device-friendly version. (It’s not up just yet, though, so don’t panic if you still see last year’s schedule there in the next day or two.)

* Will there be an opportunity to paint a giant Porchfest mural in the middle of a Fall Creek street?



Glad you asked! To celebrate Ithaca’s 10th annual Porchfest this Sunday, we’re painting the intersection of Auburn, Lewis and Adams streets with a lovely Porchfest mural. It was designed by the wonderful Nina Widger, whose paintings were the official Porchfest artwork for our first seven years.

We hope many people will help make this happen. From 8 AM to 11 AM, we’ll be using tiny rollers to paint the outlines, and then from 11 AM – 4 PM we’ll be filling them in with many beautiful colors.

We need painters of all ages to help with both portions of the project! Send an email to ninawidger@gmail.com to sign up to paint. Or, if you forget to sign up, just come over to Lewis and Auburn on Sunday and join in. Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on, and bring knee pads if you’ve got ’em.

* Will there be anything to eat?



Yep! There will be food trucks and vendors at various locations around the neighborhood, especially near Thompson Park. Additionally, the Fall Creek Elementary School PTA will have a roving bake sale all afternoon, and there will be a lemonade stand and bake sale at 102 Franklin St with proceeds benefitting the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes. And the Unitarian Church at 306 N Aurora St will serve ice cream from noon until 2 PM.

* What about restrooms?



There will be port-a-johns at the following locations:

– Thompson Park (corner of Cayuga + Marshall)

– Auburn Park (corner of Auburn + Adams)

– Fall Creek Elementary School (corner of King + Linn)

– Northstar House (202 E Falls St)

Additionally, Tabernacle Baptist Church, at the corner of Cayuga and Lincoln streets, will make its restrooms available to the public for the duration of Porchfest. And the Unitarian Church at 306 N Aurora St will make its restrooms available to the public from noon until 2 PM.

* What streets will be closed?



The following sections of street will be closed to traffic from 12-6 PM on Sunday:

– Auburn St between W Lincoln St and Dey St

– Auburn St between W Tompkins St and W Yates St

– from Willow Ave and W Yates St to W Marshall St and N Cayuga St

– Cascadilla Ave from N Cayuga St to N Tioga St

– N Tioga St from Cascadilla Ave to Farm St

– Utica St from E Lewis St to E Lincoln St

– Jay St from N Cayuga St to N Tioga St

– Linn St from King St to E Tompkins St

You can see a map of these street closures here.

* Where can I buy a t-shirt?



We’re doing something new and super cool this year: Muckles’ Ink will be in Thompson Park screen-printing t-shirts right on the spot all afternoon! You can buy a blank shirt from them, or bring your own.

And hey, while we’re on the topic: donations are welcome too. Porchfest’s expenses include insurance, permit fees, map printing, t-shirts for volunteers, truck rental to set up traffic barricades, painting supplies, and more. Nobody involved in organizing Porchfest makes a dime, and in fact, there have been years where we’ve wound up making up the difference when Porchfest comes up a little short. So if you’ve got a few extra bucks to throw in the hat, we’d very much appreciate it. There will be a donation jar at the info table, or you can pay with a credit card or bank account via PayPal.

* Where can I listen to Porchfest artists’ music before the big day (and during, and after)?



Listen to some of the 185 artists on a special “Ithaca Porchfest 2016” station on MegsRadio.fm before your wander around our neighborhood streets on Sunday afternoon. MegsRadio.fm is a locally-focused, personalized streaming radio player for Ithaca. It is similar to Pandora with customizable stations from artists and genres, but it mixes in music by local Ithaca-area artists. It is free to use, commercial-free, and being developed as a not-for-profit community project by students at Ithaca College and Cornell.

* Hey, is the Ithaca College Founder’s Day Concert in the Park happening at the same time as Porchfest again this year?



Sure is! BUT, please note, they’ve moved the location from DeWitt Park to Ford Hall on IC’s campus, so it will no longer be walkable from Porchfest. More information here.

* Whom can I contact if there’s a problem during Porchfest?



Is someone playing too loudly? Playing outside their scheduled time, and conflicting with other performers? Issues with traffic barricades? If you need to reach us during Porchfest, you can email info@porchfest.org or call or text this number: 607-269-5106. Any method will reach all three of us, and we’ll respond as soon as possible. (Texting often works better than calling, as we’re out enjoying the music too, and sometimes it’s hard to hear or speak during a performance.)