Calling all local musicians! Porchfest Sebastopol has officially opened the window for band submissions for our TWO events this year. Pass this along to your musician friends.

Saturday, June 6th at Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Saturday, September 12 in a Sebastopol neighborhood (TBD)

Go to this link and submit your band’s info under “My band wants to play.” Describe briefly your act and provide links to video or webpages. Let us know which event you can play or both. While we strive to accommodate all entries, that is of course, not possible. Deadline is May 1st.

We try to feature local, original music from Sonoma County although we have had some regional players as well. We support music of all ages and abilities. Additionally, though we love them, tribute and cover bands are not what our festival is about.

Get Involved – Sebastopol PorchFest

Thanks and keep up the good work of making music.

Gill Brothers, Orange Door Stage, 2024
945 Band, Sparc Stage, 2025
945 Band, Sparc Stage, 2025

Taste West County (TWC) will again pour award winning wines to support PorchFest Sebastopol in 2026. TWC is a collection of fourteen wineries located in the West Sonoma County area. TWC was an contributor to the overwhelming success of PorchFest Sebastopol 2025. We look forward to continuing that partnership to make PorchFest 2026 the best yet.

Please support Taste West County wineries while you’re out and about.

Donate < > Merch

Board of Directors

Are you interested in joining our Board of Directors?  Porchfest Sebastopol is a CA non-profit organization with a board of directors consisting of 5 members of the community.

We have 1 opening.  If you are interested, please fill out this form and we’ll contact you by end of January, 2026.

Where?

We are actively meeting to discuss WHEN and WHERE to have Porchfest next year in 2026.

Please drop us a line if you have recommendations of a neighborhood where we can move back to the porches of Sebastopol OR if you think we should keep the joy in Ives Park next year.

Please consider donating to Porchfest Sebastopol this Giving Tuesday to help keep FREE music in the community possible.

We had some good news that a few of our Porchfest acts went on to WIN “Best Of” awards at this year’s North Bay Music Awards.

Congratulations to:

Flowstone – Best Americana Band AND Most Northbay Vibe
Ellie James – Best Female Solo Artist, Best Indie Band, Best Songwriter
Marshall House Project – Best Funk Band
LaiddBackZach – Best Hip Hop
945 Band – Best Rock Band
Sophia Kandler – Best Lead Vocals
Open Mic With Ceni – Best Open Mic Venue

Now, get out there and check these bands out again!

A model attendee..

Whatever you bring, pack it out too. Leave no trace. This is our park, in our neighborhood.
Bring your own beer cup if you drink beer.
Use the port-a-potties (really!)
Respect the park, follow the normal park rules.
Bring a folding chair if you like to sit.
Visit the food trucks and wine garden.

Check out the SebArts gallery! There’s a fiber arts exhibit there right now that blew me away! They’re doing a terrific job there and more people should know about them.

Visit local businesses on your way in/out!  We are members of the Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce and there are many different businesses you’d sure like to support.

Porchfest by MusicWire

Sebastopol’s Porchfest Grows Into “Hardly” Porchfest

By Dee Gee, Punmaster MusicWire

A Porch With Seven Doors

In Sebastopol, California, the porches got too small. What started as a quaint idea—neighbors opening up their stoops for musicians and passersby—outgrew itself overnight. Last year’s inaugural Porchfest on High Street was supposed to be an intimate neighborhood stroll. Instead, it became a full-on block party that quadrupled expectations, with fiddles and guitars competing against traffic, kids, dogs, and the occasional PG&E truck. The event was so alive, it scared the infrastructure.

So this year, the porches are moving into the park. On Saturday, September 13th, “Hardly” Porchfest takes over Ives Park and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts with 40 bands, seven “porchlet” stages, and a whole lot more room for the music to breathe. Think of it as Sebastopol’s own folk remedy: a way to keep the neighborly spirit while turning the volume up to community scale.

Porchfest has always thrived on its homegrown angle. This isn’t a festival with tour buses and barricades—it’s the bands you’ve heard in backyards, at farmers markets, at HopMonk open mics, and in that funky tasting room on Main Street. Some are debuting for the first time; others are old hands at turning a three-chord song into a singalong.

And leave it to Sebastopol to add a little quirk. This year’s program promises a “musical mushroom” installation—fungi wired with sensors that create tones and rhythms when touched. Only in this town could you grab a glass of kombucha, tap a chanterelle, and find yourself in a jam session.

Free In The Afternoon, Flowing Into The Night

From noon to six, the park will be alive with every flavor—folk harmonies, reggae grooves, blues growlers, jazz heads, indie dreamers, and plenty of bands that don’t fit into any neat label. Then, as the daylight winds down, the party shifts indoors to SebArts.

The after-hours lineup is a statement of Porchfest’s future: Ellie James, a rising local pop artist who cut her teeth at last year’s event, shares the stage with Flowstone, a jam band whose sets often stretch into the stratosphere. A $10 donation is suggested, but true to the Porchfest spirit, no one will be turned away.

A Local Spin on a National Phenomenon

Porchfests have sprouted everywhere—from Napa to San Rafael to New England towns that inspired the whole movement back in 2007. But Sebastopol’s version has its own DNA. It’s a mash-up of small-town hippie roots and a serious commitment to showcasing artists who don’t always get stage time at ticketed clubs. The “Hardly” in the name is a wink at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, but the intent is all Sebastopol: keep it free, keep it fun, and keep it real.

Looking Ahead

Organizer Greg “Ceni” Ceniceroz, who has hosted nearly 400 open mics in town, says the long game is still to bring Porchfest back to the porches—with a little more prep and community dialogue. Until then, the park is home, and Sebastopol has itself a new September tradition: seven porches, no fences, and a whole lot of music for the price of showing up.

So grab a blanket, grab your neighbors, and get ready to hear Sebastopol the way it was meant to sound: one porchlet at a time.

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Bike parking

The fine folks at Bike Sebastopol (Thanks, Tor!) will be providing free, valet bike parking at Porchfest near the pool.  You bike will be secure and we encourage biking to Porchfest and anywhere else.

This will be FREE with a donation/tip option which helps them be able to keep doing things like this.

Note:  They’ll only be there until 6pm-ish so if you’re planning to attend the after-party, you should bring a lock and bike light as you might have to move your bike after 6pm.