SPARTANBURG — Who doesn’t like free music? Porchfest , a national trend where a block comes together to host a music festival on its homes' front porches, is coming to Spartanburg. The Hampton Heights Historic District community will host the free music festival Sept. 15 on West Hampton Avenue across six porches.
A dozen bands will play throughout the Sunday afternoon starting at 1 p.m. While admission is free, attendees may spend their money on beer and food trucks at the event.
There will also be a Hampton Heights Porchfest T-shirt for sale. Jennie Gilbert worked with the Hampton Heights Porchfest committee to organize the festival. She’s lived in the neighborhood for a few years and wants to bring more awareness to one of Spartanburg’s oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods.
“Most people in Spartanburg don't know what Hampton Heights is or where Hampton Heights is,” Gilbert said. “It's really like showcasing why our neighborhood matters.” The house at 175 W.
Hampton Ave. in the Hampton Heights Historic District on Aug. 22.
Built in 1913, the house's porch will be the stage for one of the bands playing Sept. 15 for the Porchfest music festival. The Hampton Heights neighborhood is more than a century old.
It developed between 1890 and 1930 and is full of large Victorian homes in the Queen Anne architectural style. Designated as a local historic district, it is one of Spartanburg's few communities that still resemble life in the Hub City in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the constant push and pull between growth and maintaining the city’s local flair , Gilbert hopes the festival will help people understand why she thinks preservation is important.
“Each one of these houses is more than just a house. They've been homes for generations, over 100 years,” she said. “If we lose them all we're not going to have big porches to listen to bands to.
” Started in Ithica, New York , as a way to unite a community, porchfests have popped up across the nation since 2007. Greenville’s Hampton-Pinckney Historic District will host its fourth annual porchfest Oct. 20.
One of the bands playing will be Hurt and Skip . Its singer Joe Powers described the band as a tribal blues band in the vein of what predated modern American music. Powers and the band’s guitarist Shane Pruitt are from Spartanburg while Jason Phillips, the percussionist, is from Greenville.
Powers said the band’s old-school style meshes well with the historic neighborhood. “It’s apropos for us,” Powers said. “This will be playing old music on old porches in an old neighborhood in Spartanburg.
” West Hampton Avenue signs on Aug. 22. The avenue will host a dozen bands on its homes' front porches Sept.
15. While Hampton Heights was initially populated by Spartanburg’s middle- and upper-class residents, the neighborhood faced hard times later in the 20th century. In the 1970s the once thriving community had decayed into a deteriorating inner-city neighborhood.
Some of the original homes were demolished. But thanks to a revitalization effort in the ‘80s, Hampton Heights received a historic district designation, ensuring protections. All proceeds from the Hampton Heights Porchfest will support initiatives to preserve and beautify the neighborhood and surrounding community.
“What would we be if we lost all of our historic places?” Gilbert said. Porchfest at Hampton Heights will see 12 acts play across six porches Sept. 15.
Here's which acts to expect on each porch: 1 p.m. — Jill Sprague 3 p.
m. — Mount Moriah Choir 2 p.m.
— Cody Gentry 4 p.m. — Blue Notes Band 1 p.
m. — Howl In The Valley 3:15 p.m.
— Wilder Things Than Us 2:15 p.m. — Hurt & Skip 4:30 p.
m. — BUCKO 1:15 p.m.
— Wes, Bill, & Rich Show 3:15 p.m. — Barrett Davis 2:15 p.
m. — TJ Jeter 4:15 p.m.
— Abbey Elmore Band.
