A free music festival on six front porches

LANSING — It doesn't get more intimate than gathering on someone's front porch to hear a live acoustic performance.

Gather on six front porches, and you've got the Moores Park Porch Fest, a music and spoken word festival featuring free shows on neighbors' porches in Lansing's Moores Park neighborhood.

The free event is happening on Saturday, organized by the Moores Park Neighborhood Organization.

"It's just a cool way to get people into our neighborhood," said lead organizer Lindsay Gluf Magar.

There will be music from singer-songwriters Abbey Hoffman, Mary McGuire, Monte Pride and Bart Moore.

This year, organizers are also incorporating poetry and spoken word performances.

"We thought poetry would be a good mix with the acoustic sounds," Gluf Magar said.

Moores Park resident Suban Nur Cooley says she is part of the Somali diaspora but grew up in Australia, so her poetry is "all over the place."

"I try to tackle feelings of displacement, race and identity," she said, adding that it's wonderful to get know her neighbors in "such a welcoming, creative setting."

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Grace Carras and Masaki Takahashi will also deliver spoken word performances.

As a way to kick off the festivities, a new art installation featuring the former Moores Park Bug will be unveiled at 12:30 p.m. at the REACH Studio Art Center. Artist Tom Sheerin redesigned the playground structure into a bike rack.

Full schedule

Moores Park Bug reveal at REACH Studio Art Centerat 12:30 p.m.

Monte Pride at REACH Studio Art Center at 1 p.m.

Suban Nur Cooley at 414 Smith Ave. at 1:30 p.m.

Mary McGuire at 620 Smith Ave. at 1:50 p.m.

Masaki Takahashi at 626 Barnes Ave. at 2:20 p.m.

Bart Moore at 1621 Beal at 2:40 p.m.

Grace Carras at Moores Park Entrance Pillars - Moores River Drive at 3:10 p.m.

Abbey Hoffman at 229 Moores River Drive at 3:30 p.m.

Contact Princess Gabbara at pgabbara@lsj.com or (517) 377-1006. Follow her on Twitter at @PrincessGabbara.

How to go

Moores Park Porch Fest, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Event kicks off at REACH Studio Art Center, 1804 S. Washington Ave., Lansing. Free.