Over 60 Bands to Take Over Joplin Porches as North Heights Festival Hits Year 10
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JOPLIN, Mo. — More than 60 musical acts will turn residential front steps into concert stages Saturday, Oct. 10, when the 10th Annual North Heights Porchfest returns to Joplin.
Organized by the nonprofit North Heights Neighborhood Group alongside local volunteers, the free, daylong street festival runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Organizers anticipate over 10,000 people will walk the residential streets just north of downtown.
While the tradition has taken deep root in Southwest Missouri, organizer Angela Hudson told NewsTalk KZRG the model originated far from the Ozarks.
"Porchfest isn't unique to Joplin," Hudson told NewsTalk KZRG. "Porchfest actually started in Ithaca, New York, in 2007, and it's really just anybody that wants to have a Porchfest can do it. It's just a community event that brings people together."
When neighborhood volunteers first launched Joplin's event in 2017, the goal was simple: get neighbors out on their front lawns to meet one another.
"We kind of just started it as a way to get the neighborhood together and start making connections between people living in the neighborhood," co-founder William Clift told NewsTalk KZRG. "We didn't know if it was going to last one year or what."
That first run hit an immediate snag.
"The very first year we did this, somebody called the cops on us," Clift told NewsTalk KZRG. "I guess because they didn't hear about it. And so, you know, we only—at the time, I think we went until 6 or 7 p.m., which is not close to the noise ordinance."
A decade later, those early growing pains have given way to one of Joplin's marquee fall events. Musicians will set up across roughly 20 porch stages scattered along Moffet Avenue, Wall Avenue, and West E Street, playing acoustic folk, blues, and full-band rock sets.
Michael & Jeri Lynn Family Park at 610 W. F Street serves as the central hub, housing a Main Stage, 15 local food trucks, and regional artisan vendor booths.
Admission is free. Attendees should bring lawn chairs, wear comfortable walking shoes, and carry cash to tip the musicians performing throughout the day.
