Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

With another summer getting closer I thought we would take a look back in time to a city program called Somerfest. Let’s look back to the early ‘70’s. Bands were paid to perform in the streets. A staff of teens were paid to set up for the shows. My own band, Shadowfax, did a lot of these gigs.

My good friend Dave Stefanelli’s band Zenohon played lots of spirited shows. I asked my friends on the Pride of Somerville’s Facebook page to share their memories of Somerfest.

“It was fun. I worked a couple of summers with them. Dave Testa was the man.” (RIP David)

“Jimmy, I had you and your band playing in playgrounds, streets. You guys always drew a big crowd.” (Thanks, Sal!)

“I played many Somerfest concerts during the summer. We would get donated electricity from a kind soul and rock out for an hour. I think we made $16 each. Those were the days! (Hi, Bob!)

“Summer youth job with Somerfest!”

“My band Zenophon played a few. Best days of my life. So exciting for us. It led to great things. Thank you, Somerville!” (Hi, Dave!)

“And the Somerville Auxiliary Police were there to assist in closing streets down.”

“I was the Director of Somerfest for a few years.” (Hi, Diane!)

“Not just in the 70s. It went on until the 90s.”

We performed in front of our houses. All we needed was donated electricity and it was showtime. Kids would follow some bands on different streets.

Somerfest was a great time in Somerville’s history. Great memories.