In 2018, actor and event producer Hélène Udy staged a free clown cabaret called "Was Ist Dat?" on her own front porch. In its interview with Udy, The Argonaut reported that a neighbor didn't like the noise and crowds and filed complaints with the city. Udy's response was to go to her first Los Feliz Neighborhood Council meeting. Around the same time, friends in Montreal told her about their city's Porchfest, and the idea stuck. With the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council's blessing, Porchfest LA, a volunteer-run festival, debuted in 2024 on porches in Silver Lake, Los Feliz and East Hollywood.
That history explains how the festival works in Mar Vista on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25. Porchfest has always been built around neighbors. Hosts are expected to clear things with the people next door, sets are kept small, and routes stay a few blocks long. Because the event is that local, the Westside schedule doesn't need to be out yet for you to plan the weekend. Last year's street list already tells you most of what you need.
What Changed for Year Two, and What Isn't Posted Yet
The Porchfest LA homepage calls 2026 the festival's third year and splits it into two weekends. The Eastside runs October 17–18, and the Westside runs October 24–25. Both weekends run 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Mar Vista and Culver City are back "for a 2nd year." The Mar Vista Community Council shared the dates in July.
The Westside weekend is also a week earlier than last time. Its 2025 debut ran Nov. 1–2.
As of Oct. 12, the homepage still links the Westside schedule as "TBD." The official schedule page says the Mar Vista and Culver City lineup and maps are "coming soon." A few performers have posted their own slots. Singer-songwriter James Houlahan's calendar lists "PorchfestLA West" at a porch on Baldwin Avenue in Culver City on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. Until the full schedule appears, any address you see is one host's plan, not the official route.
The Rules Read Like a Peace Treaty With the House Next Door
Porchfest's own FAQ shows the 2018 complaint shaped the format. Here is how the festival handles the things that usually cause friction on a residential block:
- Neighbors hear first. Hosts must notify their immediate neighbors at least two weeks before the event.
- Hosts supply space and power, and performers bring their own sound. The host provides the porch, yard or patio and electricity. Performers bring their own equipment.
- Acoustic is encouraged. When the Westside edition was announced in 2025, Yo! Venice reported that organizers encouraged acoustic sets because of local noise ordinances.
- No bar crawl. No alcohol can be sold, and open containers aren't allowed on the street or between venues.
- Dogs on leash. Pets are welcome only where a host allows them, and they have to be leashed.
- Short hops. The site describes each route as walkable, only a few blocks long, and possibly bikeable or drivable.
There's no event-wide parking plan. In 2025, the host sign-up asked hosts to flag any parking or access limits at their own address. That fits a festival that expects people to arrive on foot or by bike. Volunteers hand out performance maps on the day, and the site doesn't mention an app.
Where the Porches Were Last Year
Since the festival depends on residents who choose to host, the 2025 schedule shows which blocks were willing to do it. On the 2025 Westside schedule, Mar Vista and Culver City each had sites on both days. The weekend wasn't one city on Saturday and the other on Sunday.
Mar Vista streets on the 2025 schedule:
- Across the weekend: Colby, Barry, Westminster, Wade, Beethoven, Allaseba, Clarkson and Boise
- Sunday additions: Indianapolis, Woodbine, Stoner, Grand View and Wasatch
On the Culver City side, Huron, Aneta and Carson appeared on Saturday, and Lindblade, Huntley Place and Baldwin Avenue appeared on Sunday.
One Sunday stop wasn't a porch. The 2025 schedule listed the Mar Vista Farmers Market as a venue, with the 529 Band performing. According to its own site, the market runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grand View and Venice Boulevard, rain or shine. On Sunday, Oct. 25, the market and the festival overlap from 11 to 2. Whether the market hosts a stage again this year won't be known until the schedule comes out.
Last year's list doesn't guarantee this year's porches. Hosts sign up again each year, and 2026 registration opened in July. What the list does show is that the Mar Vista route ran through ordinary residential streets plus the Sunday market, and that is the layout the rules above were written for.
The Mar Vista Side Has Its Own Organizer
Porchfest started in Los Feliz, but a local group runs the Westside edition. According to The Argonaut, Mar Vista "jumped onboard in a big way" in 2025 under Rob Kadota, executive director of the Mar Vista Music Project. The festival site still lists Kadota and the Music Project as the Westside contact.
The Music Project says its mission is to promote live music and performers of all kinds around greater Mar Vista. It was doing porch-scale events before Porchfest arrived. It runs summer porch parties to showcase local musicians, and one was listed for Sept. 19 on Barry Avenue, one of last year's Porchfest streets. In August 2025, it put a stage with music, dance, art and vendors near Alana's Coffee Roasters for CicLAvia.
Reports on how big the first Westside weekend was differ. Before the event, Kadota told The Argonaut there were 14 Mar Vista porches, six Culver City porches, and more than 60 performers who wanted to play. Days later, Mar Vista Voice reported more than 120 performers at 21 porches, gardens and patios. LAist counted more than 120 Westside performers at over 20 homes. The early count was sign-up interest, and the later counts were the lineup that actually formed. Either way, the number of performers roughly doubled in the final weeks while the number of sites stayed around 20.
The acts aren't all music. Porchfest LA accepts stand-up, storytelling, performance art and clowning along with bands. The Argonaut described the 2025 lineup as opera singers, clowns, spoken word poets, comedians, and artists ranging from classical to hip-hop and bluegrass to R&B. Udy told the paper which moment she thinks captures the festival best:
"Like the photo of people stopped on the street, not in the garden, because the performance caught them by surprise, and they were going somewhere, and they're standing outside the gate, and the looks on their faces as they watched these performers on the porch, that is Porchfest."
Building the Day Around Six Hours of Porches
The festival runs 11 to 5 on both days, and no alcohol is sold, so food has to come from somewhere nearby. Two spots fit the route.
The Arepa Stand, 12906 Venice Blvd. The former pop-up now has its first brick-and-mortar location. Eater LA's openings roundup lists its hours as 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which covers a Saturday or Sunday morning before the first sets. A separate item on the Community Council's Oct. 8 land-use agenda proposed a 50-seat restaurant at the same address, open 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. The agenda doesn't name the applicant, and the outcome hasn't been reported.
Electric Bleu, 3523 Centinela Ave. For dinner after the 5 p.m. wrap, chef Craig Hopson and partner Mai Sakai's French bistro passed its first anniversary this summer. Eater LA's August review notes a $79 tasting menu alongside à la carte dishes such as steak au poivre.
If you want a preview before Mar Vista's weekend, the Eastside edition runs this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17–18, in East Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. Its schedule is already posted, and the festival invites people to come to both weekends. Check porchfestla.com/schedule during the week of Oct. 19 for the Westside map, then match it against last year's streets.
At The Suarez Team, we keep up with the blocks that host Mar Vista's porch weekends because that kind of street-level detail matters when a home there goes on the market. If you're on one of those streets and wondering what your home is worth, Request a Free Home Evaluation and we'll walk you through the numbers on your block.
