Sonoma Report
Sebastopol Porchfest is scheduled to return to a residential neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 12, with more than 50 local acts performing across porches and driveways in Belmont Terrace.
The free event will run from noon to 6 p.m. across the walkable, four-block neighborhood near the Community Church of Sebastopol and Ragle Ranch Regional Park. Organizers plan to use 10 stages, with food trucks, local sponsors and folding chairs also part of the event, according to the North Bay Bohemian.
This will be the third year of Sebastopol Porchfest. Last year’s event was held at Ives Park after the city asked organizers to relocate it. Principal organizer Greg Ceniceroz, known as Ceni, told the Bohemian that organizers decided to return to porches because the neighborhood setting is central to the event’s purpose.
The 2026 lineup includes at least 54 local acts, among them Big Tractor and the Mothercluckers, Trance Goats, The Happys, Tumbleweed Soul, Clementine Darling, King Lung, The Low Keys, Lady Bloom, Petrified Sun and The Pulse and the Poet.
Organizing the performances has required coordinating six hours of music across multiple informal stages. The schedules also have to account for neighboring houses so that performances do not interfere with one another, Ceni said.
Residents have been involved in planning since February. Organizers held six or seven informal meetings with people in Belmont Terrace to discuss the event, gather feedback and work through permits. Two current or former Porchfest board members who live in the neighborhood helped with local outreach, according to the Bohemian.
Ceni said organizers are not seeking to turn Porchfest into a large destination festival. Instead, he described success in more local terms: children being able to walk safely in the streets and residents making new connections.
The event will take place throughout Belmont Terrace and the area around the Community Church of Sebastopol. Donations are welcome, and attendees may bring folding chairs.
