Live music, food, and games filled the streets of Cooper-Young during the 5th Porchfest, drawing in thousands on Saturday.
Porchfest is an annual event in which people in bands living in Cooper-Young host concerts on their porches or at notable parts of the neighborhood. For example, a gazebo on the Cooper-Young intersection.
Notable performers included Heels, Suroor, The Weathermane, and The Eastwoods.
“The thing I like about Porchfest is you end up running into people that you never talk to," said Josh McLane, a Heels band member. "[Other musicians] talk to each other on social media and that crap but no one actually talks to each other. Let's say there’s 50 people right here at this place right now, 15 of them I’ve been in bands with.”
Heels also announced a new addition to their band for their upcoming album.
“We’re gonna have a bass player now, I guess I can break the news on this,” said McLane. “Buddy Forbus, who’s also in a band called Press that is phenomenal, and it made this album Above and Beyond the Best.”
Multiple yards featured games like cornhole and giant Jenga on their yard. Some stores also had games out, like 901games leaving an arcade machine on the sidewalk in front of their storefront.
Some people were also cooking outside or giving out drinks. Someone with the handle ‘pabloscobarbecue’ posted that he had made so many ribs that he was giving them out for free. Another house on Felix Avenue also had received so much beer that the hosts were giving beer out to people for free. Some areas in Cooper-Young had thick smells of cooking or barbeque, and rib bones or chicken bones were common litter on the streets and sidewalks.
Porchfest lasted from noon until 6 pm. Before the concerts started, some homes featured yard sales, and after the event, restaurants in the neighborhood were packed with some restaurants featuring music inside their store as the music on porches died down.
