Ninth annual Porchfest brings out Belleville’s community

Stephen Fleet was one of the performers for Porchfest. Photo by Evan McClelland.

By Evan McClelland

BELLEVILLE – The sound of music flowed through the fall air last Saturday on the Old East Hill.

“The weather! It’s going to be beautiful,” Richard Barrett, a performer at the event, said when asked what he was most excited about.

Right he was, as it was a gorgeous afternoon when the local music community came together for Porchfest.

“It’s such a great event,” said Stephen Fleet, Barrett’s fellow member in a band called The Tuesday Night Music Club.

“Playing live, we just love it. It’s a lot of fun.” Fleet said.

The event saw 300 to 400 people turn out for it say the organizers. Two of them, Shannon Alexander and Jeff McDougall, live in the neighbourhood.

McDougall said that it’s “a good chance for people to get out and wander around Belleville.”

He also said it was an opportunity to see all the people they missed over the summer and catch up with them.

“It’s amazing how much it’s grown,” Alexander said, “they’ve done a great job.”

Sam Brady, one of the organizers and artists for the event, said that the event helps open up the East Hill by having families and performers out meeting each other. He also said that they’re always looking for more performers.

Despite it being in Belleville, Brady said he wants to get people from all the neighbouring communities to come out and have a beautiful afternoon.

Porchfest is a free event run by the Rotary Club and has been going for nine years. It brings in a wide variety of different music genres into a single outdoor event. The front lawns, or porches, of local homes are used as the venues for the bands. The event was created as a celebration of local music.