SF Porchfest: the Music Festival (literally) in your Backyard

On Saturday May 30th, amid the familiar sounds of a weekend morning in the Mission—the hiss of Muni breaks, cars rushing past, friends chatting in Dolores Park—you will start to notice something different. As you wander through the neighborhood streets, live music will begin to fill the air.

From 12pm-6pm, as summer creeps around the corner, local musicians will take over residential porches, backyards and small businesses for SF Porchfest—a free, all ages music festival celebrating San Francisco’s local music scene.

The first Porchfest began in Ithaca, New York in 2007 with only a few local bands. Today, more than 280 Porchfests exist, featuring everything from reggae, folk, blues, jazz and rock to spoken word performances, dances and even clown acts.

San Francisco’s Porchfest was co-founded by Beth Gould and Liz Pittinos in 2015. After a several year hiatus, it is returning for its eighth year in 2026. This year’s festival will spread across 18 venues and feature over 100 bands. Stages will be set up from 19th to 24th and Guerrero to South Van Ness Streets, with the biggest stages on Bartlett St.

Planning this event is no small task. Gould and four other organizers work tirelessly from February to May, vetting over 300 band submissions—including some from Nashville, Brazil and even Kenya—securing permits, coordinating schedules and promoting the festival.

In past years, the event was funded entirely by its organizers. However, this year, Porchfest received a grant from the Civic Joy Fund, a privately funded initiative focused on rejuvenating San Francisco streets through community arts and culture projects. This funding helps cover costs of equipment, but the majority of it goes towards paying the artists, something the organizers have prioritized for the past two years.

“It’s really taken on a life of its own,” Gould said, reflecting on the growth and the positive community response the festival receives each year. With more than 100 bands performing across a four-block stretch of the Mission in rotating afternoon sets, this volunteer run event will transform the neighborhood into San Francisco’s center of live music for the day. Here are three handpicked bands you will not want to miss.

Sunkissed’s original songs reflect whatever emotions and experiences they are living through in the moment.
*photo courtesy of* sunkissed.band.com

Sunkissed, a five-piece band of Calder, Wenson, Henry, Lloyd and Rhys—blends surf rock, indie nostalgia and neo-psychedelia into a sound that can feel both dreamy and ethereal yet emotionally raw.

Their music is deeply rooted in the city itself. Their debut single, “On the Sunkissed Hills of San Francisco,” was recorded entirely inside their Victorian-style San Francisco flat, using a closet as a recording booth. Listen closely and near the end of the track and you will hear a faint humming—sampled from the Golden Gate Bridge swaying in the wind.

What started as two friends obsessed with seeing live music, became a band built around community, spontaneity and pure fun. “For us, there’s a lot of nuances in seeing an artist perform live that you just don’t get from a recording or in a Youtube video,” Wenson said.

Catch Sunkissed live at Porchfest from 5:00pm-5:45pm, or follow them on social media or through their website, sunkissed.band.

Silver Swoon released their debut, two-track album, Vol. 1, in November of 2025.
*photo courtesy* of Joey Cañas

Formed in November of 2024, Silver Swoon is a dreamy, roots-rock band that blends all your favorite genresAmericana, folk, R&B, blues, rock, country—into a sound that is both unique and nostalgic. Band members John, Anna, Zeeke and Joey each bring different musical influences to the group, from Rush, to John Prime, “We blend our different influences to create a sound that is distinctly ours,” Joey said.

Live, Silver Swoon embraces the unexpected. You experience a range of emotions, from their bangers to their ballads, their jams to their jazz chords, everyone on stage sings and harmonizes, making everyone in the audience want to as well. While their unique blend of music is personal, it is also meant to connect. “We want to create an experience that is larger than life which the people who come see us can truly feel a part of,” Joey said.

Catch Silver Swoon from 2:00-2:40pm, or on Instagram or other social media platforms @silver.swoon.

Later this month, Knights of Molino plans to release a 10 song album, which they recorded at the Record Plant, following in the footsteps of artists like Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and Prince.
*photo courtesy* of @knightsofmolino on Instagram

Mix together the rebellious energy of The Clash, Sex Pistols and Green Day into a classic punk inspired band of blonde, pre-teen boys from Mill Valley, and you get Knights of Molino. Brothers Erik (13) and Tommy Birmingham (11), who play guitar, drums and vocals respectively, started the band in 2023, and later were joined by their friend and bassist, Rowan Campbell (12).

Their music tackles teenage angst, growing up and recently, their opposition to AI-generated music. “Music is not meant to be made by a computer, it sounds so inauthentic and wrong,” said Tommy. Their frustration comes through, quite loudly, in their song “Take Back Control”, as Tommy screams the opening line, “I won’t be a slave to AI.” Outside of music, the boys attend Mill Valley Middle School, play soccer, ride their bikes and even dabble in break dancing. This will be Knights of Molino’s second Porchfest appearance, after having an unforgettable experience at last year’s event. “When people started to gather around our area, it was cool thinking that they chose to listen to our music,” Erik said.

Crowds are expected again because—don’t let their age fool you—these boys are electric, they are gritty and their music is razor-sharp. Don’t miss your chance to catch the next generation of music during their 12:00pm-12:40pm slot at Porchfest or learn more and follow their journey on their website, knightsofmolino.com.

Even with incredible bands like these, SF’s Porchfest is about more than just music—it’s about bringing people together, “All walks of life, all ages—everyone is mingling and walking around, just slowing down for the day and enjoying the music and the community,” Gould said.

In a city that has watched its music scene fade for decades, Porchfest can feel like a beacon, a whisper of hope in a sea of slick festivals and bloated ticket prices. For one glorious spring afternoon, neighbors gather, bands will play and the show goes on.