October 29, 2026
In 2024, Brunswick PorchFest put 74 performers on 62 porches. In 2025 it had 71 performers on 55 porches, and the organizers estimated the crowd grew from about 10,000 to about 15,000. If those estimates are right, each porch went from roughly 160 listeners to roughly 270 in a single year.
That ratio explains most of what has changed for Sunday, Nov. 8. The festival still runs on front porches in the Old Town Historic District, and it is still free. Its rules now look more like crowd planning than a block party, though. The No Wheels zones are larger, glass is banned, a free trolley runs between parking lots and porches, and some streets close. For anyone who has gone before, the biggest changes this year are in parking, walking routes and what you can bring.
PorchFest began in 2018. Historic Old Town residents Angie Young and Susan Bates started it, and the volunteer group called the Neighbor Gnomes organized the first one, with 28 porches and performers. The Golden Isles visitor bureau credits the Historic Brunswick Neighborhood Planning Assembly with making the event possible.
Estimates of the crowd vary depending on how it is counted. For 2024, organizers estimated 10,000. The Brunswick News reported a cell-data estimate of about 8,400 for the same year, with 78 acts on 58 porches. It also noted that the method left out certain locations, so the real number could be higher. Under either count, the 2025 figure of around 15,000, which organizers called a record, was a big jump.
More people at each porch means fuller front yards, busier medians and more foot traffic around the historic squares. The 2026 plan addresses each of these.
The Brunswick News reports that this is the festival's eighth year. The theme is "Porch Invaders," and the headliner is Maple Street Band, the Golden Isles Music Awards Artist of the Year. Jason Umfress, who chairs the planning committee and goes by "head gnome," told the paper the theme "invites everyone to have a little fun, get creative and maybe even channel their favorite alien, astronaut or space explorer."
The bigger practical change concerns wheels. Last year's golf cart restrictions are becoming a No Wheels Zone that also covers skateboards, e-bikes and e-scooters. Alec Eaton, the festival's traffic and safety chair, told The Brunswick News that the pedestrian-only areas "helped make the festival safer and more enjoyable for everyone." The PorchFest FAQ says wheelchairs and power-assist chairs are allowed. Bikes are still welcome outside the restricted areas, with designated parking zones for them.
Three more rules follow from the larger crowd:
The schedule, the map and the performer pages are all in the Brunswick PorchFest app, available for Apple and Android.
The FAQ is clear on parking. Park in one of the large lots between downtown and Glynn Academy, a couple of blocks north of Old Town. From there, walk or take the free trolley to your first porch. The trolley also runs between the two sides of the festival, so you can cross the event without walking it end to end.
| If you need | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Standard parking | Large lots between downtown and Glynn Academy |
| ADA parking | Glynn Academy / First Baptist Church lot at Egmont and Mansfield Streets |
| Additional ADA parking | Next to the Glynn Academy tennis courts at George and Carpenter Streets |
| RV or trailer parking | Longer spaces along Bay Street near downtown |
| Food | Vendors around Halifax Square, across from The Brunswick Manor |
| Drinks | Vendors in the Prince Street median in Halifax Square |
| Kids' activities | SPARK, A Golden Isles Children's Museum, Kid Zone in Hanover Square |
Most of the support is around Halifax Square. Food, drinks and the street closures are all there, so it gets the most foot traffic during the afternoon. SPARK's Kids Corral in Hanover Square is for ages 1 and up and has crafts, a marshland obstacle course and a kid-sized porch performance. Children must be with a guardian.
The organizers call it a "choose your own adventure" festival. A new round of performances starts on different porches at the top of every hour from noon to 6 p.m. Because of that, you can plan the day in one-hour blocks. Pick a porch for each hour in the app and use the end of each set to walk to the next one before the next round starts.
The FAQ recommends bringing:
The tips matter more than they might seem. Performers donate their time, and tips are their only pay. Many have Venmo, PayPal or CashApp links on their performer pages in the app, but some do not, so bring cash for those. The festival itself also depends on support. The FAQ lists lighting, tents, sanitation, parking shuttles and public safety among the costs that sponsorships and donations cover.
If the busiest blocks on Sunday are more crowd than you want, two events earlier that weekend take place downtown, a few blocks from the Old Town porches.
Friday, Nov. 6: First Friday on Newcastle Street, 5 to 9 p.m. Galleries, shops and restaurants stay open late with drinks and snacks, and live music plays in the Signature Squares.
Saturday, Nov. 7: Harbor Market at Mary Ross Waterfront Park, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market runs on the first, third and fifth Saturdays of the month, so it opens the weekend's Saturday. That evening, the Doo-Wah Riders play the Historic Ritz Theatre at 1530 Newcastle St.
The weekend before, the Smithsonian traveling exhibition "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" opens at the Southeast Georgia Conference Center on the College of Coastal Georgia campus. The Brunswick News reports an opening ceremony on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m., and the exhibition runs through Dec. 13.
If you are looking for dinner on Friday, our earlier post on where Brunswick's newest restaurants have opened covers the city's food scene beyond downtown.
PorchFest borrows stages from private front porches for one afternoon a year. The city is also looking at a permanent outdoor music venue on the waterfront. According to The Brunswick News, Public Works Director Garrow Alberson recommended hiring Goodwyn Mills Cawood for $104,700 to design entertainment upgrades at Mary Ross Waterfront Park. The money would come from city SPLOST revenue, and $3.8 million of it has already been set aside for the park.
The design scope includes a performance space, a green room and restroom building, a commercial building, a larger playground area, public art and lighting. The memo calls Mary Ross "the only waterfront park along the west side of the city." It also says some existing features may need to be removed, moved or reworked to fit the new ones. This is a design contract for a proposal. The finance committee that was set to take it up makes recommendations to the full City Commission and does not make the final decision. For now, the Harbor Market pavilion and the concrete dock are what you'll find there on Saturday morning.
After PorchFest, the downtown calendar moves on to the holidays. The Ritz stages "A Christmas Carol" from Dec. 11 to 20. The city's Christmas parade page sets the parade for the second Saturday in December at 5:30 p.m., starting at Howard Coffin Park and going down Gloucester Street. By that rule, the 2026 parade falls on Dec. 12.
If PorchFest is your first look at Old Town's porches and squares and you'd like to know what the homes along those streets are like, I'm happy to walk you through the Brunswick neighborhood before or after the music. Let's Connect with Janice Morgan.
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