Organized by The Collaboratory, the free festival kicks off at 12:15 p.m. Aug 16 with the TRSS Drum Corps and runs until 6:45 p.m. This year’s Porchfest is presented by altafiber and Local Roots Realty.
Fifty-six bands will be performing at this year’s Dayton Porchfest, spanning genres from folk and rock to R&B and jazz.
Acts this year include Sam King + The Suspects, Strange Ranger, crabswithoutlegs, Dr Cycle, Dip Spit Family Players, Illwin, Solistic, and Kid Bigfoot. Yearly staples, like Sharon Lane, Nasty Bingo, Dayton Salsa Project, and John Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures, will also be on the bill. The full 2025 lineup can be found on the Dayton Porchfest website.
In an effort to keep the lineup fresh, over 40 percent of artists this year are first-time Porchfesters.
“We want to make sure that those new folks are being featured as much as the folks people are coming to see every year,” said Peter Benkendorf, one of the organizers of Dayton Porchfest. “You also just try to expose people who love music to a whole lot of different things.”
Porchfest draws in listeners who might not typically attend bar or venue shows — whether due to age restrictions or just different routines — making it a uniquely accessible experience. It is a family-friendly and dog-friendly event.
“It’s unlike anything else that goes on in the city,” said TINO, a Dayton rapper who’s played Porchfest since 2018. He is taking a “cool-down year,” to allow other acts to get a chance to play a porch. “It is a perfect cross-section, I feel, of what Dayton has to offer as far as its musical art scene, and its eclectic-ness.”
The Dayton Porchfest team — made up of Benkendorf, Libby Ballengee, Sunni Russo, Art Jipson, and a bevy of volunteer “Porchies” — is diligent about marketing the music acts ahead of the festival. Although there is no set stipend for performers, every porch has a tip jar and QR code for listeners and passersby to donate. All the musicians have to do is show up with their equipment and play.
The original Porchfest took place in Ithaca, New York, in 2009. Cleveland had one in 2011. Then, in 2017, Dayton became the 94th city to adopt a Porchfest. There are now over 200 Porchfests around the country.
The first Dayton Porchfest was made up of 15 handpicked bands playing on three music blocks, just north of 5th St. Forty-three bands played the next year, eventually growing into the six blocks of music that it hosts today in St. Anne’s Hill. In 2024, Dayton Porchfest even expanded into the Huffman Historic District.
Here’s a common Porchfest conundrum: Say you just got done seeing a band — we’ll call them Band A. Now, you’re ready to go see another band, Band B, a few blocks away. On your way to Band B, Band C, which you’d never heard before, catches your ear. So you stick around for a few songs while Band B gets going on another porch, on another street.
And though you still manage to listen to the band you came to see, you also discovered a new one that you’ll want to hear again next year.
That’s part of the charm and appeal of Porchfest, for both the attendees and the musicians.
“It’s special because it’s really centered on community,” said Georgia Evans, aka Midwestern Mrs, who first performed at Porchfest in 2023. “I feel like when people decide to sit down and listen to a few songs, it’s very intentional. They’re listening to you. It makes me feel grateful that they shared their time with me.”
Nautical Theme, a harmony-driven folk duo between Tesia Mallory and Matt Shetler, has been playing Porchfest since 2019.
“We get to play to a bunch of people that haven’t heard us before,” said Shetler. “They get to sample all different kinds of music. If they don’t like something they’re listening to, it’s totally cool if they wander onto the next place, and maybe find something that they love.”
After Dayton Porchfest, the Levitt Pavilion will host an Afterfest at 7 p.m., with Americana singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell. Basura will open the show.
And if you hear something unexpected on your way to the next set — well, that’s kind of the point.
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. He buys duplicate copies of every Chuck Klosterman book, and sometimes makes music. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
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