Friends and neighbors will share music and good times as this year’s edition of PorchFest hits town this coming weekend.

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

The artistic community in Somerville is highly active, and will once again participate in the highly unique PorchFest event this Saturday, May 17, when neighborhoods come alive with song and conversation. This is anything but a typical festival, as residents come together for a community event in which musicians play on their porches and stoops, allowing passersby to enjoy the tunes while walking around the city.

According to the Somerville Arts Council, which presents PorchFest each year along with Mayor Joseph Curtatone, there were as many as 75 musicians in the first iteration of the event, and more than 100 have signed on so far for this year.

Nancy Goodman, a Somerville resident, was inspired by a similar tradition that took place in Ithaca, N.Y., and decided to bring the idea back home. After pitching the general scope of the event to the members of the Somerville Arts Council, almost immediate attention and interest was found throughout the city.

Gregory Jenkins, executive director of the Somerville Arts Council, explained that the organization puts together maps and handles registration, but that the event is really in the control of the people.

“The beauty of PorchFest is that it is decentralized, meaning we [SAC] and the city provide structure, but every individual group takes care of their own mini-event,” Jenkins said in an email. “The idea of providing structure for the community to create and present is a primary goal of the Arts Council and this initiative shows how with a little structure and a lot of community participation the whole city can come alive. So, it’s a great model for the arts and the city.”

The SAC also managed publicizing the activities of the event each year, maintaining oversight and helping ensure interested parties can find the information they need before beginning the long wander around the city.

Now in its fourth year, the number and diversity of musicians continues to expand, with more event-goers walking the neighborhoods of Somerville in mid-May to hear their neighbors perform. In a relatively short period of time, the PorchFest has blossomed into an event more interactive and engaging, as there have been reports of Porch-ioke, in which event-goers can sing karaoke with a backing band behind them.

This year’s PorchFest will run from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, beginning in the eastern neighborhoods and spreading to the west. East Somerville performances are scheduled to begin first, at noon, and run through 2 p.m. The next set will be in Central Somerville from 2 to 4 p.m., followed by Western Somerville from 4 p.m. through 6 p.m.

The idea behind this schedule is to allow PorchFest attendees to move from east to west in a relatively unified fashion, although each individual is likely to have a unique experience considering the sheer amount of acts and layout of the neighborhoods.

As one might imagine, the music involved on the whole is eclectic and vast, spanning all the genres that the talented residents of Somerville love to perform. The SAC has a lineup of musicians and a map for where their porches can be found on its website, www.somervilleartscouncil.org, and interested parties can also find MP3 samples in some instances.

Individuals who would like to learn more ahead of the event should refer to the Somerville Arts Council’s website.