Union Park is throwing 20 free concerts in one afternoon as PorchFest DSM returns Sunday

Juliano Dock performs at PorchFest DSM 2025. — photos by Mark Lage, illustration by Kellan Doolittle/Little Village

PorchFest DSM turns five this year, and has become a regional magnet for music lovers. The dynamic duo producing this capital city happening is Dave and Anne Ducharme-Jones, a husband-wife team originally from Austin, Texas.

Their passion for music is an inclusive one. Knowing that a rising tide raises all ships, they envisioned PorchFest DSM as a flood of musical waters raising the ships of many musicians. This communal setting offers music, community and immersive bliss through a schedule of 45-minute sets presented by 20 musical acts on a myriad of porches throughout Des Moines’ Union Park Neighborhood.

The “porch fest” concept was popularized in 2007 in Ithaca, New York. What started as a grassroots gathering of bands on the East Coast grew into numerous festivals across the U.S. and Canada.

Little Village spoke with Anne and Dave Ducharme-Jones in the lead-up to the fifth iteration of their neighborly music festival.

Can you share the origin story for PorchFest DSM?

Anne: When Dave and I moved back to Des Moines, we were invited to come to Kansas City to play in their PorchFest. We really didn’t know a thing about PorchFest. We went down, we performed, we had so much fun. There were so many vibrant musicians and porches on these old Victorian houses. We were driving home from that and we said, “Why don’t we do this in Des Moines? There are so many great musicians.” That’s what started it.

Mike V and the Rats perform at PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM

Dave: When we talked about it, we thought it was a great idea but we didn’t have any idea on how we could do this, how to traverse city codes or whatever hoops we had to jump through. So, we talked to our friends down at Captain Roy’s because they just opened their club and had dealt with the city. Jack Dougherty, who is the president of the [Union Park] homeowner’s association but also the owner of Captain Roy’s, said he loved the idea, let’s do it.

Can you talk about the musicians participating?

Anne: Everybody was so delighted to have an opportunity to perform at PorchFest. Every year we have tried to do new bands. We haven’t done a lot of repeats. There just are so many incredible artists.

Dave: Word’s gotten out and we’re hearing from bands we haven’t discovered yet who are reaching out and would love to play. We’re making new friends.

Anne: Dave and I have been producing a series [at xBk Live] called Monday Night Live, so we had gotten to know many of [the musicians] that way. When we reached out to invite them to come to Union Park, they were happy to come.

The musicians come together. It feels like there is a scarcity of resources, and sometimes it feels competitive. This is one of those things where we hope to have enough spots for everybody. Our first act is at 11:30 at the Carousel. It’s usually a youth band. We have every genre throughout the afternoon. Our lineup is fantastic. It has been every year.

Performers at PorchFest DSM 2025. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM

What would you say is the community impact of PorchFest DSM?

Anne: It’s been community building in so many ways. It brings the neighbors together, the neighbors in Union Park are digging this. They love what this has done for their neighborhood. Neighbors put great parties together. You’re basically walking around a few blocks and going to these house parties. You just want to come with good walking shoes. We’ll have some food trucks there and some things to sip on. Everybody is having a blast.

Talk about the impact PorchFest has had with the music community.

Anne: It takes a supportive community to have incredible music. In Central Iowa, now we have a listening community. They are enjoying original music, which is what we try to feature at our festival. Mostly it’s going to be original, Midwest artists. We really love to promote that music.

Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM
Locals and performers gather for PorchFest DSM 2025 in the Union Park neighborhood. — photo by Mark Lage, courtesy of PorchFest DSM