It will be a rockin’ weekend in Adams Morgan, with PorchFest returning for its tenth year this Saturday, October 15. The festival was originally scheduled for October 1, but was rained out. Seventeen different porches, patios, and stoops will be set up for live music performances, and about 70 local bands are slated to perform.
The event is free to attend and visitors can pick up a wristband and a map at the plaza at the corner of Columbia Road and Adams Mill Road, NW. The wristband provides attendees with dozens of discounts at neighborhood businesses. (Don’t miss out on $5 rail drinks and Oskar Blues Pils Drafts, and $4 Narragansett tall cans from Bedrock Billiards, or $4 sliders from Shibuya Eatery.)
This year’s headline performers are all local artists with various musical inspirations: Bryce Bowyn is a 2000’s-anthemic-inspired musician and a vocal LGBTQ+ advocate. Ari Voxx is a melancholy jazz singer who channels complex emotions into introspective and riveting lyrics. Brian Lee is an R&B and hip-hop musician and producer, while The Airport 77s will get you up and dancing with their rock-pop anthems.
This will be The Airport 77s’ fourth time performing at PorchFest. Guitarist Andy Sullivan told Washingtonian it’s one of his favorite days of the year because people spend the day wandering around and having a good time. “[PorchFest] allows us to break out of the usual scriptures of live performance—and reach people we wouldn’t otherwise,” Sullivan said.
Ari Voxx said she is excited to try out some new music at PorchFest this weekend; she’ll be doing a new electronic set with her guitarist, a drum machine, and a sample pad. “This is the best place to try that out. I get to try something fresh and new that I’m proud of that might entice passersby,” Voxx told Washingtonian.
It’s not just the headliners—there are performances scheduled almost every hour between 2 and 5 p.m. at all 17 locations.
“Music is a unifying and evocative experience. We need that right now,” Bryce Bowyn told Washingtonian. “If you have a chance to celebrate and dance with your neighbors, you should take it because it will 100 percent brighten your mood.”
Keely recently graduated with her master’s in journalism from American University and has reported on local DC, national politics, and business. She has previously written for The Capitol Forum.
