Dorchfest 5.0 was a huge success, drawing its largest crowd yet to the Ashmont-Adams neighborhood for an afternoon of music, community, and celebration.
Blessed with beautiful weather and great vibes from start to finish, this year’s festival filled porches, yards, plazas, and streets with live performances and enthusiastic crowds.
Thousands of people descended on Carruth Street and the sidestreets — particularly Beaumont Street, which was closed to vehicular traffic and featured vendors and — later in the day— a lively dance party led by SambaViva and Grooversity.
Lead dancer Randi, of SambaViva Dancers, said the hour-long performance on Beaumont Street reflected a different kind of Brazilian Samba carnival atmosphere. Grooversity leader Marcus Santos plays more of the rhythms from the Bahia state of Brazil, and Randi said that lends to the ‘Bloco’ style of community dance party that they performed Saturday.
“It’s not the usual carnival with feathers, bikinis, and flashy dancing, but more of a community block party,” she said. “It’s known as ‘bloco’ and everyone comes together to dance as a community for a long time, sharing food and drink and togetherness. We wanted to bring that kind of performances here to DorchFest this time.”
While many in the crowd were long-time Dorchester residents, or volunteers with Ashmont-Adams Neighborhood Association and Greater Ashmont Main Streets, others had come from outside the neighborhood for the first time.
“This is our first time here at DorchFest and it’s been really exciting so far,” said Skyler Chang alongside her family. “We’ve been to other Porchfests, and we went to the one in Somerville. It was a bit more wild and some brawling, but this is so family friendly. The atmosphere here is great.”
Families, neighbors, visitors, musicians, and local businesses all helped create the festive atmosphere that has made Dorchfest— which launched in 2022— one of Dorchester’s signature events.
Organized by the Greater Ashmont Main Streets and Ashmont Adams Neighborhood Association, the event is made possible thanks to scores of volunteers and support from sponsors, including Amazon, Trinity Financial, Dorchester Reporter, Abacus Builders, the Mass Cultural Council, Ashmont-Adams Neighborhood Association, DotLife Podcast, MacKinnon & Co. | Compass, McGonagle’s Pub, Revamp Training, Ronan 953, Rockland Trust Bank, The Local Hand, Btone Fitness Dorchester, Dot Block, Eire Pub, Harbor Health, HYM Investment Group, Santander Bank, and UMass Boston.
All photos by Seth Daniel for The Reporter.
JahRiffe, Barriffe B. Mackenzie, played his Reggae roots rock music on a Beaumont Street porch. Seth Daniel photo
DorchFest organizers and volunteers Teddy Wolde, Elle Marrone, Michaela Flatley with Clementina Flatley, Dianna Peck, and Leila Carter. Seth Daniel photo
One of the SambaViva dancers blows bubbles from the second story porch on Beaumont Street. Seth Daniel photo
Steve Mac and his very expressive dog Creed stopped for a water break on Carruth Street in the shade. Seth Daniel photo
Sean and Chenita Daughtry with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. Seth Daniel photo
The Binh Dinh Martial Arts Academy in Fields Corner gave an action-packed performance on the streets of Ashmont-Adams. Seth Daniel photo
Marcus Santos led the pulsating Samba rhythms for Grooversity on Saturday. Seth Daniel photo
Taking a break from the excitement were Cindy Jeremiah, Sharon Moody, Nelita Brown with Ginger, Linda Brown, and Wendy Matthews. Seth Daniel photo
Virginia Benzan, Keisha Pierre, and the legendary Jeff 2Xs. Seth Daniel photo
Ray Liriano and his power-packed band entertained a large crowd on Carruth Street. Seth Daniel photo
Elected officials in attendance included U.S. Senator Ed Markey, state Rep. Dan Hunt, state Rep. Brandy Fluker Reid, state Sen. Nick Collins, Councillor Erin Murphy, Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune, Councillor Julia Mejia, Councillor John FitzGerald and former Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, co-publisher of event sponsor Dorchester Reporter. Seth Daniel photo
The essence of DorchFest – lying on the lawn and listening to a man and his guitar. The warm weather brought many families and friends to shady spots on the circuit to relax. Seth Daniel photo
