Adams Morgan PorchFest continues to flourish

Adams Morgan PorchFest proved that it continues to grow this past Saturday, with more businesses, porches, and bands participating than in previous festivals.

Adams Morgan PorchFest is a neighborhood music festival that sprawls throughout both the residential and commercial streets of Adams Morgan. The festival occurs twice a year: one in the spring, the other during fall.

According to the Adams Morgan BID official website, 26 porches and three main stages hosted 103 bands on Saturday from 2:00 to 6:00. 

Porches refer to mini pop-up performances outside of residential homes and businesses.

These numbers outrank participation in previous Adams Morgan PorchFests, according to Adams Morgan Partnership BID Executive Director Kristen Barden. 

She said this past spring, she believes PorchFest only had 20 porches.

The BID partnership has organized Porchfest since 2012, and it has grown immensely, according to Barden. That first year, she said she remembers PorchFest didn’t have any main stages, they didn’t close down 18th Street, and only 10 porches participated.

Long-time volunteer Mara Stewart also noted PorchFest’s growth over the years. She said that even four years ago, the event was a lot smaller. 

Typically, Stewart said she has enough printed flyers and wristbands to pass out throughout the entire event. This fall, she said, that wasn’t the case.

“We ran out of things by 3:00 p.m. Usually we wouldn’t be running out of our main stuff, like our wristbands, like our physical paper maps until the end [of the event].”

Because of this, she said she thinks that Porchfest Fall 2025 was even bigger than Porchfest this past spring.

Barden said that although they cannot yet confirm that more people attended PorchFest this year, the Adams Morgan BID partnership will have official data soon.

While looking back at the success of Saturday’s event, Barden also noted that Fall Porchfest 2025 was all about community.

“It’s heartwarming to see the community really embrace this event and really enjoy all of the music together,” she said.

Tommy Faulkner, a resident of Adams Morgan, also said he noticed the community vibes throughout the live performances.

“We were just crying about this. There was a woman on the bus waving. It just feels like we need community,” said Faulkner. “It gives me sort of faith in humanity again. Like I feel like I’m happy to be around people.”

Wristbands bring in the business

This past weekend, 52 businesses provided discounts and specials through the wristband program.

A couple of years ago, the majority of businesses that had specials for wristband wearers were restaurants, according to Stewart.

Now, all kinds of businesses participate, she said. Ace Hardware Adams Morgan, A Little Shop of Flowers, and Fleet Feet were a few non-restaurant names that partnered with PorchFest.

“Which shows just how broad it has become, and how many people want to participate in Adams Morgan,” said Stewart.

Despite the large crowds, those businesses came prepared, according to Barden.

Cody Ayala, the general manager of Andy’s Pizza, said Porchfest is one of the restaurant’s busiest days. In order to prepare, Andy’s people had to double their staff and their food prep, he said.

“We stay busy from start to finish,” Ayala said.

How a band hijacked PorchFest and has participated ever since

The Dellas, an indie/rock/pop band, said they hijacked Porchfest last fall. They performed for the first time as a group without formally signing up for the event, according to the band’s bassist, Andrew McArthur.

“We were lucky because there were no porches immediately around us that were also playing at the same time,” said McArthur.

Although The Dellas weren’t officially on the Fall Porchfest 2024 setlist, the turnout was a success, according to McArthur. He said that

Since then, the band has signed up to perform at the Spring and Fall 2025 PorchFests.

The Dellas celebrated their first anniversary performing together this past weekend, said guitarist David Vega-Pulido. 

McArthur and Vega-Pulido said they think this Porchfest’s audience is the largest the band has ever performed for.

Last spring, about 100 people RSVPed for a digital invitation the band sent out. This Saturday, McArthur said, about 200 people RSVPed.

Vega-Pulido said that there were “way more people” this fall in comparison to last fall. Both Vega-Pulido and McArthur added that the energy of Fall Porchfest 2025 was high.

“I’m excited that a lot of our friends came out and got to see us,” said McArthur.

School of Rock dominates the main stage at PorchFest

Nola Kenney (17), Ella Hartwig (17), Marz Marissell (16), and Marie McGarry (17) are School of Rock youth band members who took turns performing at Marie Reed Stage. 

They said that Fall Porchfest 2025 is one of the biggest turnouts they have ever seen.

“I would argue this is one of our biggest crowds out of the year because there are so many people passing through, and we are at the entrance,”  said bassist and singer Hartwig. 

Hartwig has been playing the cello since she was five, and the bass for about 8 years, she says.

School of Rock is a Washington, D.C music program that teaches students of all ages how to read music, play instruments, and perform live. The students perform at community-based events and local venues, according to their official website.

This year, for the entire event, the School of Rock Youth Bands took turns performing 20-minute sets on rotation, a system they call round robin, said Hartwig.

Marissell added that PorchFest is one of the best places to play in DC because of the high volume of attendees. Marissell has been playing the guitar for about five years.

“They all love music and they all just want to have a good time,” said Marissell.