Saranac Lake PorchFest committee (Provided photo)

To the Editor:

The Saranac Lake PorchFest planning committee extends deep gratitude to the Saranac Lake community for its enthusiastic welcome and participation in this August’s inaugural event. What started as friendly barside talk about a concept successfully executed elsewhere quickly turned, under the enthusiastic direction of Jeff Hughes, into a successful townwide music festival.

Saranac Lake’s first PorchFest had participation from 20 acts, even more individual artists and 12 “porch” hosts. We also had incredible support from our sponsors: The Rotary Club of Saranac Lake, ROOST, RiverTrail Beerworks, Stewart’s Shops, Long Run Wealth Advisors, Bitters & Bones, Hyde Fuel, Coldwell Banker — Whitbeck, Nori’s and Carcuzzi. Without the talent of our musicians, the welcome of our hosts and the generosity of our sponsors, this event would not have been possible.

We are also grateful for the many community members who came out to listen to music, buy T-shirts and support the event. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did. Thanks to you and our sponsors, we were able to raise $500 each for two great organizations in our community — Mountain Melodies and Camp Pendragon. These donations will help fund scholarships and programming to bring the joy of music to the youth of our community.

Special thanks as well to Zacharia Peltier, Beverly McFarland, David Rasmussen, Lauren Kraut and Kathleen Bullard for their day-of help in Berkley Green. Volunteers are the backbone of this community, and your time and talents helped make our PorchFest a success.

PorchFest pairs residential hosts with local and regional bands for a community-wide music festival where porches become stages, yards become venues and neighbors gather together. A concept initiated in Ithaca in 2007, PorchFest events are held annually across the United States and Canada. Ithaca’s first PorchFest hosted 20 acts as well. Their event now features over 100 acts and draws a significant visiting audience in addition to resident engagement. We envision a future where Saranac Lake PorchFest is just as successful, engaging not only our local music enthusiasts, but the larger region and visitors beyond.

We hope you will join us at our second Saranac Lake PorchFest on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. We expect to have more bands, more porches, more fun for all and more to donate to local non-profits at the end. We’ll be announcing band, host and volunteer sign-ups soon. Look for more information at saranaclakeporchfest.org.

With gratitude,

Saranac Lake PorchFest Planning Committee