Brookline Porchfest Creates StayHomeFest Video Amid Coronavirus

BROOKLINE, MA — At noon Wednesday, what would have been the fifth annual Brookline Porchfest became Brookline's StayHomeFest with the release of one 4-minute video filled to the brim with love for music and community.

Porchfest is generally a day-long free grass roots neighborhood festival where musically inclined neighbors share their talents from porches or public lawns and community members come to listen and bop along to the music. It started in the Boston area with Somerville in 2011, Jamaica Plain started theirs in 2014. Brookline joined the following year and each year since more musicians have popped up to contribute.

After it became clear that this year's in-person event wouldn't be able to happen in the same way, organizers put out a call for video submissions. The task? Sing, dance, lip-synch to "Home" by Phillip Phillips, which starts "Hold on, to me as we go. As we roll down this unfamiliar road. And although this wave is stringing us along, Just know you're not alone."

By May 3, they had received dozens of video and audio tracks from more than 80 of the participants who would have participated in Porchfest – band members, porch hosts and friends.

The Arts Brookline and Brookline Music School and the team behind porchfest edited the videos to create a split-screen video that celebrates Brookline’s musical community.

"It shares the spirit of Porchfest and highlights many of the wonderful people who bring music to the streets of Brookline each June," said organizer Brendan Burns. "We are extremely happy to acknowledge the wonderful HOME that is Brookline with [this] split screen video. The passion and commitment of so many in the community showcases how music keeps us together, especially in unprecedented times."

Watch the video:

In case you're wondering who the sleepy glockenspiel player was, we asked: Both he and the umbrella twirler were Scott Pittman. He's on faculty at Brookline Music School.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, opinion piece.