Thoughts on “Porchella” Name: Why it Misses the Target

Jacob Kim and Nathan Oh

Today from 3:30 to 7 p.m.,  ASB will be hosting a spring carnival called  “Porchella,” which is an indicator of what the carnival will feature. The name “Porchella” draws inspiration from the music festival Coachella, which is held in Indio, California annually.

“We were just going to call it a spring festival when Jun called it “Porchella” as a joke and it stuck,” Poseidon House President Gabi Taylor said.

The name is clever and witty, but ultimately it is inaccurate despite the commonality that Porchella and Coachella have with music.

There will be many performers at Porchella that will entertain the crowd, much like Coachella, which makes the name accurate because both Porchella and Coachella have live music.

However, in separate situations, the name Porchella is confusing and misleading. The name Porchella implies that it is largely inspired by Coachella, which is not the case; because Porchella is not as music-oriented as Coachella, the name may come off as misleading to students who are not part of ASB or who did not have a large part in planning Porchella.

“It’s confusing because Coachella is a concert, and Porchella is a carnival,” sophomore Leonardo Peña said.

Porchella better replicates the Orange County fair more so than Coachella, as it will have games and bounce houses. The similarity that our school festival has with the Orange County fair is the part where Porchella differs from Coachella, because while Coachella is more centered around music, Porchella is more oriented towards games and activities, much like a carnival.

A more accurate name to replace “Porchella” would be “Spring Festival” or “Spring Carnival”. The name “Spring Festival” would remove the instant connection that “Porchella” has with Coachella. It would be much more accurate as the festival at school is not a music concert like Coachella but rather, it is more of a festival that is like the OC Fair.