Photo obtained via http://www.oakhurstporchfest.org/

More than 130 bands are expected to take part in the first Oakhurst Porchfest this Sunday.

The festival, happening October 18 from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. is being called “the largest organic, free-range, crowd-sourced music festival in the state of Georgia.”

When a streetscape project scuttled plans for Oakhurst’s annual Arts and Music Festival, one resident came up with an alternative.

Scott Doyon has a friend in Ithaca, N.Y. who told him about an event there called Porchfest. Instead of a traditional festival where multiple bands play at a specific venue, a Porchfest involves several different bands setting up on residents’ porches.

Doyon said, “The way he described it, my immediate thought was, ‘This would be a terrific event in Oakhurst. I ought to do that.’”

When Decaturish spoke with Doyon in August, he had 36 porches lined up, a far cry from the now 130 porches and bands involved in the project.

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A press release said of the festival, “A joint collaboration of resident Scott Doyon, local blog Decatur Metro, and the Decatur Arts Alliance, the Oakhurst Porchfest will transform the neighborhood into a festival a square mile in size where all responsibility for managing the day’s logistics falls to the more than 500 volunteers offering up their porches or performing one hour sets.”

The event is free, and parking is available in decks and throughout the neighborhood. Attendees are being encouraged to walk, ride bikes, or use city transportation or Uber.

You can read more about the festival and see the map and schedule on the Oakhurst Porchfest website.