Porchfest NDG expands to 2 days of music

Aurora Robinson, the founder of Porchfest NDG, spent Friday running around the city:dropping off posters, taking maps and T-shirts to her volunteers.

• Porchfest comes to NDG with nearly 60 live music acts
• Porchfest NDG showcases homegrown musical talent

"Lots of little random, boring errands," she said about the last minute preparationsfor this weekend's second edition of the neighbourhood music festival in Montreal'sNotre-Dame-de-Grce neighbourhood.

"It definitely makes me feel glad to be back in NDG," Robinson said.

Music makes good neighbours

Last year's edition was Robinson's initialattempt to reproduce a music festival with a twist.

She'd experienced the pleasure of musicians playing on their front porches while living near Ithaca, N.Y.and thought NDG's wooden porches, leafy neighbourhood and talented musicians were made for the event.

It was a big success, with more than 60 bands signing up.

Robinson says it's a collective event that really brings thecommunity together.

"There's something for everyone, and anyone can participate so it's very inclusive and welcoming, and it's a nice start off to the summer," she says.

This year, with close to 100 bands on the schedule, Porchfest NDG is spreadover two days, Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Fundraising for local music program

The organizers are asking musicians to collect donations for amusic program run by a non-profit agency that's a mainstay in NDG,Head and Hands. J2K isan after-school program in whichteens are given the unique opportunity to learn aboutdifferent aspects of music productionand to play a wide array of musical instruments, from violins to turntables.

Street safety

Porchfest NDG doesn't require any city permits because people are playing on their own porches, but the streets did get very crowded at last year's event.

"People were pretty good. Most streets that got traffic are slow-moving streets anyway, and people get out of the way when they need to," Robinson says.

But she hasvolunteers watching and helping to make sure the streets are safe.

Now all she needs is sunny weather.

You can check out the schedule atwww.porchfestndg.com.