Sure it’s been a couple of months since Porchfest took over Oakhurst on a lovely Sunday afternoon in October.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still new and interesting iterations of “coverage” of the event popping up online.  And heck if we aren’t gonna show it to you!

Grab your Google cardboard headset and check out this latest submission from the band Van Helton!

Want to experience Porchfest all over again? Perhaps your face wasn’t fully melted the first time around? Well today is your lucky day. The folks at the Van Helton fan club brought out some high tech cameras to the event and filmed Van Helton in 360 degrees for your Virtual Reality (VR) pleasure.

Apparently those fan club folks are pretty busy with their day jobs, because they just finished putting the experience together. Better late than never, right?

If you have a Google Cardboard headset, you can download a VR app that includes the Porchfest experience for both Apple and Android smartphones:

• Apple iTunes Store — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/foundry-45-virtual-reality/id1058799548?ls=1&mt=8

• Google Play Store — https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foundry45.f45viewercardboard

If you don’t have Cardboard, you can order one from here:

https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/get-cardboard/

Alternatively, the NY Times sent out a million (literally) Cardboard headsets a couple of weeks ago so ask around, and you might be able to find one from a friend.

You should download the app over wifi. There’s a lot of content so the app is huge. A future version will be set up so that you can dynamically download the content you want.

The fan club team also put a couple of 360 degree videos on YouTube 360:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzNhNsg17UQ

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHjX6YhOOsI

One final word of caution — Van Helton music has been known to rock so hard that fans’ faces end up melting to the floor. So, please try to limit your exposure to one or two hours at a time.

Cheers!

Van Helton

Less than a month into registration, October’s grassroots, fully-crowdsourced Oakhurst Porchfest festival has surged beyond 100 porches and is now busting at the seams. So much so that registration must soon come to a close. But you’re not out of luck just yet. Here’s how it will work:

Bands / Musicians

Performer sign-ups will close tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9, at 10am. Anyone not registered by that point will need to either sit in with another performer or hold off until next year. So don’t miss out. If you’ve got tunes to share, sign up now before it’s too late HERE.

Porch Hosts

Porch numbers are slightly behind performance numbers so we’ll need just a bit more time to catch them up and ensure a porch for every performance. To do so, we’ll keep porch sign-ups open until either Friday the 11th at 6pm OR the point at which our porch number matches our final performance number. Whichever comes first, so sign up now HERE.

Curious how cool your street is shaping up to be? Here’s the latest map of registered porches below. Your porch will only make it better. Sign up now!

BBQ, Blues and Bluegrass Festival advance $10 tickets are only available until midnight tonight!  $20 at the gate tomorrow.  Get ’em HERE.

Also, here’s a helpful “All you need to know” list from the BBQ, Blues and Bluegrass folks!

Date: Saturday, August 15^th

Time: 12pm – 8pm

Location: 630 East Lake Drive, Decatur, GA 30030 (for your GPS, Waze or Google Maps) Parking lot of Family Dollar in Oakhurst

Tickets: Advance $ 10 can purchase online only here https://www.freshtix.com/events/decatur-bbq-blues–bluegrass-festival

• Day of $ 20 at main entrance gate
• Kids 12 and under FREE
• All sales are final
• Entry Fee includes 7+hours of music – food, drink are extra (this is a fundraising event with proceeds benefiting local charities)
•  There will be 2 lines one for pre-pay, and one for day of ticket sales que appropriately

Cash or Credit:  We will have ATMs at entrance

• Front gate will accept debit and credit cards for entry via square
• Fox Bros. will accept credit or debit, all other food vendor’s cash or credit

Food: BBQ ($8-12) – Fox Bros., Sweet Auburn, Williamson (serving BBQ staples)

Special vegetarian dishes are available at each BBQ food location

Desserts/Treats ($3 -$4) – King of Pops, Banjo Cold Brew, Atomic Ice Cream Sandwiches, Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice

Beer: ($5) New Belgium menu of beers including there will also be a designated high gravity specialty pouring station

Read the rest of this entry »

So how’s this sound to everyone? An Oakhurst grassroots community music festival where front porches become stages, yards become venues, and everyone’s reminded how much fun can be had in the neighborhood.

Hopefully good, because it’s happening!

Oakhurst Porchfest, a joint project coordinated by a handful of Oakhurst neighbors, the Decatur Arts Alliance, and us here at Decatur Metro, aims to be the city’s first, fully crowdsourced festival. On the afternoon of Sunday, October 18, from 2 to 6pm, musicians of all kinds will grace porches throughout the neighborhood while folks on foot or on bikes wander about, listen, hang out on lawns and sidewalks, and mingle with the neighbors.

Now most of us are used to having great festivals put on for us rather than by us. However, this one, based on an event born in Ithaca, NY, eight years ago, is gearing up to be a for-neighbors-by-neighbors, crowdsourced sort of affair.

Lots of sign-ups (both musicians and porch hosts) will equal a spectacle. Limited sign-ups will equal a novelty. So let’s get the word out there and make it BIG — so we can do it again next year!

Are you in?  If so, here’s what you do.

If you live in Oakhurst, sign up as a porch (or stoop or lawn or driveway) host; if you’re a musician (from anywhere at all), sign up to play. If you want to help make it happen, sign up to volunteer. Or if you like Oakhurst and music and a generally funky good time, just show up with a few friends and family members.

It’s that easy.

So what do you say? Over the years, DM readers have demonstrated their commitment to real world community building.  We helped organize an Adult Prom, saved and rehabilitated an owl, crowd-sourced a bike rack, helped auction off a $2,000 beer for charity, and continue to help reunite many lost animals with their owners. Now let’s see what we can do when it comes to festivals.

Spread the word — to Oakhurst neighbors and to musicians far and wide! Everything you need to know can be found at the Oakhurst Porchfest website.

Photo of Westhaven, TN, Porchfest courtesy of Ray Porch.

I’ve always enjoyed this festival.  Annie sends along this release…

Decatur’s ‘Biggest Little Festival’ returns to East Decatur Station on Thursday, June 11, from 6-9PM. Co-sponsored by the Decatur Arts Alliance, this one-night-only-extravaganza of ART, LIVE MUSIC, FOOD TRUCKS, and BEER is a FREE event for all ages. Think outside of the Square and venture to the other side of the tracks to meet our eclectic community of visual, culinary, musical, crafty and creative artisans & merchants.

Now in it’s 4th year, The Big Pop Up! has grown to resemble a scaled-down, shorter version of the Decatur Arts Festival. Visitors can once again expect a nice variety of local art, crafts, jewelry and live music. Foodies will enjoy tasty treats from food trucks and East Decatur Station restaurants and beer lovers can visit Three Taverns Brewery, which will offer discounts on their popular tour & tastings – topped off with an exhibition of contemporary British art curated by Decatur’s own Shawn Vinson.

East Decatur Station is located on the corner of East College Ave. and New St., just a block west of the Avondale MARTA Station.  For more details, visit http://fb.com/PopUpDecatur.

Just received this announcement…

Due to severe weather, the 2015 Earth Day Festival has been canceled. There is no alternative rain date for this event, so we will see you again in 2016!

Remember that Earth Day was founded to raise public consciousness about air and water pollution.  This is a great time of year to think about how you and your family can minimize your impact on the planet. Small changes can add up, and the Wylde Center is a great source for environmental education. Check out our website at wyldecenter.org.

Clear your calendar for 12-12:30p Monday.

Decatur Beer Fest tickets go out sale at noon and if prior years are any indication, you’re going to have to be very quick on the draw.  Here’s a breakdown by year since 2007 based on DM reports over the years…

• 2013 – 25 minutes
• 2012 – 29 minutes
• 2011 – 1 hour
• 2010 – 7 hours
• 2009 – 12 days
• 2008 – 3 weeks (best guess)
• 2007 – 1 month