It’s Time To Celebrate 731 Day!
Written By Olivia Bell
Every year on July 31 people from around Jackson gather together in the Midtown area for 731 Day’s biggest and most beloved event: Porchfest.
“When I moved to Jackson I had no idea what Our Jackson Home was and I didn’t know what Porchfest was. I moved here for a job and my husband and I had picked out a house. We were like ‘We should walk around our neighborhood to see what it’s like.’ We started walking and we heard music. We just happened upon Porchfest,” Lizzie Emmons, Our Jackson Home program director and Porchfest organizer, said. “We knew instantly that we really wanted to live in this neighborhood if they’re prioritizing performing live music on the porches of their neighbors.”
731 Day, named after Jackson’s area code and always celebrated on July 31, is a day dedicated to all things Jackson. Businesses and organizations participate by offering promotions and deals or throwing events like the annual water balloon fight hosted by Town and Country. The community is also encouraged to shop local, engage in some of the businesses’ deals, and enjoy everything else the day has to offer. At the end of 731 Day, Our Jackson Home hosts the largest event and finale, Porchfest, which is a series of concerts hosted on the porches of neighbors in the Midtown area featuring local musicians and visual artists.
“If you just happen upon Porchfest and you don’t know what it is just like I did, what you’ll see is musicians performing on the stages of different homes in the LANA neighborhood,” Lizzie said. “We ask the actual homeowners if musicians can perform on the stages. Last year we started incorporating visual artists as well. We have different visual artists that are local that design temporary art installations out of recycled materials.”
This year there will be five musicians performing on stages designed by four different artists.
To gather the artists featured in Porchfest, Our Jackson Home sends out a call to the community during the year asking what kind of music and artists they want to see. Then, the Porchfest committee, which is made up of five people, narrows it down from there and decides on the official Porchfest lineup.
“We always want to prioritize diversity in lots of different ways. We want our local artists that are performing or installing art at Porchfest to be representative of the community as far as diversity of makeup, races, ages, genders, and all different kinds of people. But we also want diversity of art as well. So, very different styles of visual art and very different styles of music,” Lizzie said. “A thing that’s been a long staple of Porchfest and a main focus for a lot of the community is the local music aspect because it’s been incorporated in the program forever, and that doesn’t have a specific genre. It’s kind of a point of pride that we don’t have a specific genre in Porchfest. It’s really a showcase of all of what’s in Jackson.”
Porchfest will feature one artist per stage, with each performance lasting 25 minutes. After that, there will be 10 minute breaks between sets where people have time to walk over to the next location. You can choose to either follow the crowd or get one of the printed maps that will be handed out.
Even though Porchfest will be hosted in the Midtown area, the event is open to people from every corner of the community.
“We want to make sure that, as best we can with our lineup of five different performers and four visual artists, that it represents different areas of Jackson so that it attracts different populations of Jackson. I think that in itself, as far as Porchfest goes, is what brings together our community,” Lizzie said.
There will also be local food trucks on-site and a merchandise table available for anyone who wants to get dinner during the shows or shop for a fun souvenir.
“It’s just a big party,” Lizzie said. “Get dinner, listen to live music, enjoy some art, and enjoy your neighbors.”