Porch Fest lights up community spirit – Norman Transcript

When the lights went out in downtown Norman Saturday night, the Porch Fest party didn't stop.

Normanites strolled through the Miller Historic District, mostly ignoring the power outage, voices soft as they stopped to visit with friends and listen to acoustic performances. Some seemed hardly aware that a major portion of downtown Norman running through the Porch Fest area had lost power.

Others thought it added to the community-friendly atmosphere of the event.

It's kind of cool because the power did go out, and it makes it more intimate, said Stevie Michelle. We have amazing talent in Norman. Our community is so cool.

Irrational Consumers, a skunk (ska-punk fusion) band comprised of middle and high school students, performed with gusto in front of McMichael Music despite losing their microphones and amplifiers during the set.

Parents and fans joked that they had blown out the power in the whole block.

Porch Fest is really magical, said Kyle Bergersen, the father of two Irrational Consumers members. Bergersen said the family had been out of town for last year's festival and only returned shortly before Porch Fest, so this was the boys' first chance to participate as performers.

We just accidentally stumbled on it last year, and it's awesome, he said.

For some, enjoying the Miller neighborhood was a big part of the draw.

I came last year and loved it. I've always admired the porches on this block, said Lauren Hale. It's pretty amazing. They're going to power through despite the power outage.

Elaine Kumin said she's old enough to remember when people sat on their front porches and strolled along the sidewalk visiting with neighbors, then air conditioning and garage doors came along, and things changed.

People go in their houses, and they don't come out, Kumin said. This is a taste of what was. It's great to see children out, playing. It's a wonderful sense of community.

Friends and neighbors greeted one another, kids ran through the grass and people brought their dogs on leashes with hosting porch owners often providing bowls of water for the visiting canines.

I like listening to this kind of music, said Abram, who added that he is four-and-a half before jumping up and running circles through the grass.

We were listening to some acoustic around the corner, said Jeff Mlekush, who said they hadn't realized that Porch Fest was affected by the power outage, though he and others had been at nearby downtown businesses when the power went out and decided to come on over to the neighborhood music festival.

Despite the positive attitudes, many performers were affected and a couple of porches shut down performances, but most kept going. Only three participating porches, all located on Miller Avenue still had power.

We shifted a few people who were electric only over to Miller where they had power, said co-organizer Sara Kaplan. There were only a couple of people who cut their sets short.

The early crowd was smaller this year with temperatures back on the rise Saturday, but with darkness descending, the crowds seemed to expand, even around houses with torchlight or no lights at all.

It would be better if the power would come back on, said Janelle Powers. It's hard on the musicians. We like singer, songwriter music. We came last year and were looking forward to it this year. We like this neighborhood.

Carol Danko said the heat and the bugs made for a lighter crowd this year, but the event was still worth showing up.

It's amazing that this all happens in people's yards, said John Sandridge. I think It's really good for the community.

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Porch Fest lights up community spirit - Norman Transcript