Dorchester’s porch fest-style musical celebration, Dorchfest, will return to the Ashmont-Adams section of the neighborhood for a third time on Sat., June 1, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

More than two dozen porches, patios, parking lots, and yards will be transformed into stages for more than 40 bands of diverse musical genres. The now-annual celebration began in 2022 with the help of committee member and porch host, Rachel Felix.

“Three years ago, a couple of neighbors and I got together. We wanted to do the first porch fest in Dorchester and also highlight the diversity of Dorchester,” said Felix. “It’s a great way for all the people to come together and really feel the great sense of community that we have.” 

She moved to the neighborhood in 2021 from Brooklyn, where she spent years in the entertainment business. “Moving here from New York City, I chose Dorchester intentionally because of the different cultures that come together,” said Felix, who is the chief marketing and growth officer at Boston Medical Center. “We really want to bring joy to our community and continue to highlight the richness and diversity of Dorchester.” 

But the roster of performers is not the only thing that makes Dorchfest unique. Unlike most such festivals, Dorchfest compensates musicians for their time, payments that could not be made without the generous donations of sponsors including Santander Bank, Boston Medical Center, MacKinnon & Co., and the restaurant Tavolo. 

“We are very grateful that the sponsors allow us to pay the bands for their time. That was very important to our mission,” Felix told the Reporter. “We’re pumped to have our amazing bands back that have been with us for so long and also some new talent to the stage this year.”

One of several returning artists, who will play with a full band, is OFD singer Richie Parsons, who now lives in Quincy but will return to his childhood home at 4 Westmoreland St. for his third Dorchfest performance.

“The couple who bought the house from us asked if I’d play in the first Dorchfest. They knew I’d been playing music my whole life,” explained the 64-year-old Parsons, whose family lived in the home for 100 years, from 1916 to 2016. “Now, this will be the third year in a row and I’m very excited about it. They’re wonderful hosts and it’s fun.”

While Parsons describes his current music as “more power pop,” his first band in the 70s was punk rock and called Unnatural Axe. He has since gone on to perform with several bands, including Future Dads, Band 19, and The Gremies. With The Gremies he wrote and performed “No Surfin’ in Dorchester Bay,” which has a cult-like following among locals for its iconic picture sleeve. 

While some of Parsons’s songs celebrate the Dorchester he knew, he is happy to see the neighborhood continue to evolve.

“It’s changed and it’s way more diverse,” he said, “and there’s so much more going on in it. It’s different now and it’s better.”

MC Daniel Laurent will take the “stage” at 64 Van Winkle St. with DJ Jeff 2X. Photo courtesy DorchFest

Another Boston-based artist performing next month in Ashmont-Adams is MC Daniel Laurent. The Hip Hop creative uses music to inspire conversations and make social commentary. Last year his short film, “Cry For Me,” highlighted the dangers of domestic violence and sexual abuse and was showered in awards from numerous film festivals.

At Dorchfest, Laurent will be performing with DJ Jeff 2X. “What Jeff and I are going to do is going to be a real set, infusing the art of DJ-ing mixed with MC-ing,” said Laurent. “We want to be able to entertain but almost give a history lesson of where hip hop came from, where it went to, where it’s at now, and where it’s going to go.”

Laurent compared the pair’s finale to DJ Khaled’s “God Did.” He added, “I want to be the one that hopefully converts some people who would not have listened to hip hop otherwise.” 

Laurent and Jeff DX will be performing at 64 Van Winkle St.

A few blocks away, at 6 Fairfax Street, attendees can leave behind the hip-hop scene and listen to “a cocktail of harmony-driven rock infused with soulful energy and emotion” with Three At Home, a trio made up of 39-year-old Mary Casiello, 47-year-old Dann Russo, and 51-year-old Kari Paisley-Flango.

Casiello and Russo have been performing together for quite some time, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that Paisley-Flango joined the group. 

“Just about three years ago I remember starting to rehearse for the first time and it was May and before we even rehearsed, I saw a post for Dorchfest. We made it our mission,” said Paisley-Flango. 

The first Dorchfest was also the trio’s first time performing together. This year they will be returning for the third time.

“I think one of the most valuable things about these porch fest events, in general, is you start to recognize that music and musicians don’t just live in a couple of spots in the world,” Casiello told the Reporter. “They’re everywhere and there’s good music everywhere. It reminds the audience that Boston has a thriving music scene.”

Russo added that while all porch fests can be fun, Dorchester’s stands out. “The organizers are so good. They do such a good job of curating and getting people all different kinds of music,” said Russo. “When people play porch fest, they except to volunteer their time, and Dorchfest actually pays. It’s nice to have an organization that is able to level up the experience for musicians.”

For more information regarding performance times and locations check out https://dorchfest.com

Los Gallos Locos members performed Latin Roots music on a porch at the corner of Bushnell and Van Winkle Streets. Seth Daniel photo

Robert Thackery will perform at 6 Rundel Park at 2:30 p.m. Photo courtesy DorchFest

Kera Washington of Zili Misik performed on Beaumont Street during last year’s DorchFest.
Seth Daniel photo

Three at Home will return to Dorchfest for the third time this weekend  playing original songs infused with soulful energy and emotion.
Photo courtesy DorchFest