For the past four years, Princeton Porchfest has transformed the town into a patchwork of stages, where front porches, sidewalks, and public places double as platforms for performances.
The festival offers a welcoming space for creatives and audiences alike to engage with both literary and performing arts. Performers rotate through sets across the day, while the audience moves from block to block, guided by sound as much as schedule.
The result is less like a traditional concert and more like a townwide collaboration, one built on movement, creativity and shared experience.
Organized by the Arts Council of Princeton, Porchfest brings art directly into the community by removing the barriers of formal venues and inviting residents to experience creativity in familiar, everyday spaces. With performers spread throughout town, the festival encourages the audience to explore Princeton on foot, discovering both music and poetry along the way. Following their own curiosity, attendees often encounter performances they may not have planned to see.
This year’s Porchfest takes place on Saturday, April 25 from noon to 6 p.m. Porches and artistic venues throughout Princeton will host musical performers of all kinds. This year, The Arts Council will also provide a place for poets and spoken-word artists to perform via its Story and Verse open mic. A list of sites and a schedule of performances is online at artscouncilofprinceton.org.
For Tony Kennette, who will return this year with his band Tony and the Trees as the festival’s closing act, Porchfest is special because of the way it draws people together.
Kennette said the format itself plays a large role in shaping that experience. With multiple locations hosting performances across the day, the audience moves freely throughout town, creating a sense of spontaneity that differs from traditional venues.
“You get a map, and people walk around town enjoying music and art and community,” he said.
Raised in a musical theater family, he began singing at a young age and later picked up the guitar at 13, the instrument he still plays today. For Tony, music and creativity have always been a way for him to express himself.
“It’s what I do when I feel happy, when I feel sad,” he said. “Music is just the normal.”
Outside of music, Kennette works on an organic farm in Somerset County, and is actively involved in local agriculture, a connection to the land that has also shaped is perspective as an artist.
Blending his passion for music and agriculture, Kennette formed Tony and the Trees, a band whose name reflects both.
Over time, the band has expanded into a larger ensemble, with other musicians joining to create a fuller sound. Even in its simplest form, Kennette said his music starts with a bigger vision.
“When I write music, I hear a whole orchestra in my head,” he said.
That vision comes to life through collaboration, which he said is central to both his band and the broader creative scene. “Community is stronger than competition,” he said. “I think building not only the community for the audience, but also for the artists is the message we’re all about.”
For Kennette, that sense of connection is part of what sets Porchfest apart. He added that Princeton’s reputation has helped elevate the festival beyond a local event, drawing a wider audience and creating memorable moments for performers.
Kennette recalled a performance at a previous Porchfest where the audience crowded the street.
“There were probably 150 people in the street, watching us,” he said. “And as a performer, that is one of the greatest feelings.”
Beyond the size of the crowd, what stands out most to him is the diversity and energy of the people who attend.
“The people, the diversity, the crowd…, every type of person just enjoying life, eating, drinking, singing and dancing,” said Kennette.
He said those moments reflect what makes Porchfest different from other shows, where the audience is often limited by location.
“For the most part, when we play other shows, people are coming from a smaller radius,” he said. “But Porchfest brings people in from all over.”
That broader reach, combined with the open nature of the event, opens access for people who might not otherwise engage with live performances.
“I think it’s the outreach,” Kennette said. “It’s getting in front of people who might not otherwise come out.”
Tony and the Trees will close this year’s Porchfest with a concert in Hinds Plaza starting at 5:15 p.m.
Across disciplines, that same sense of connection resonates with A. Benedict. Benedict, a Mercer County resident, sought out local spaces to share his work and eventually became deeply involved in the Arts Council, performing regularly at events such as Story and Verse and Café Improv.
Story and Verse, a monthly storytelling and open mic session, will take place in Hinds Plaza this month, becoming part of Porchfest. Story and Verse is open to creators of all ages and experience levels. The session starts at noon and those interested in participating can register on the Arts Council website.
Although Benedict shares his work through both written and spoken word, he does not define himself in traditional terms.
“I do not consider myself a poet,” Benedict said. “I am more like an observer of life with a pen.”
For Benedict, Porchfest is not just a place for people to perform, but a part of a larger creative ecosystem built by the Arts Council.
“It’s expanding the mission of the Arts Council to a much larger, broader audience,” he said. “Trying to expose people to the wealth, the depth and breadth of art that is in this area.”
He said the council has been important not only in giving artists a place to perform, but in helping build a true creative community.
“One of my absolute favorite aspects of being a part of the Arts Council community is the wonderful talented creatives that I’ve met and forged friendships with,” he said. “I love going to perform, but I also love hearing work from other people.”
Programs like Story and Verse and Café Improv create consistent opportunities for artists to connect and grow, building relationships that carry into larger events like Porchfest.
That exchange between artists as well as the audience is central to how he sees both the Arts Council and Porchfest.
“I would say the Arts Council is the glue, the fundamental artistic fabric of the entire Princeton and Mercer County region,” Benedict said. “It is at the center of cultural inclusiveness and education.”
Benedict added that art, in all its forms, plays a unique role in connecting people and reflecting on shared experiences.
“What I love about art, is that it can tell a story, evoke thought and project so much onto society’s broad canvas,” he said.
Both A. Benedict and Tony Kennette will be performing at this year’s Porchfest to continue to spread creativity through their art. As they return to the festival, both artists are also working on elevating their crafts, Kennette through live music and new projects, and Benedict through poetry, published collections, and a developing novel.
Though they express art in different ways, both artists return to the same idea: Porchfest matters because it creates space for people to encounter art, one another and the community they share. For both performers, the festival’s real value lies in what happens between acts, in the conversations, the connections, and the sense of belonging that art can create.
“The richest riches are not money, but they’re people,” said Kennette.
Through Porchfest, the Arts Council has provided a safe place for artistic freedom, for comradery among artists and the audience, and for growing creatives eager to share their art with the community. By transforming everyday settings into stages, the festival creates an environment where art feels integrated into daily life rather than separate from it.
As creativity flows through the air, Porchfest creates a moment where people pause, listen, and take something with them.
“If we can get more people to lend their ears to some great work or their eyes to some great art,” Benedict said, “that is what it is all about.”
