HONK! Festival
Update: The HONK! press release posted earlier was an old version. I’ve updated the post with the latest information.
Through October, I’ll be helping to coordinate the HONK! Festival in Somerville, MA. As we began to outline at last night’s meeting, the task will include local outreach, as well as online rabble-rousing. While this will mainly be channeled through the HONK! MySpace page and other HONK!-specific vehicles, I have created a dedicated space on Groundswell to begin the wider discussion about HONK! as both the event and the movement.
For those who are unfamiliar with HONK!:
HONK! is a revolutionary street spectacle of never-before-seen proportions. Joyous community bands have begun to emerge in every corner of the world from the ashes of modern-day gloom.
Twenty-four activist street bands from around the nation and beyond will convene for the third ever HONK! Festival in Davis Square on Columbus Day weekend, October 10–12, 2008.
HONK! is a huge street spectacle, completely free and open to the public. HONK! bands are joyous community bands who blend traditions of second line and klezmer, funk and bollywood, mardi gras and carnival. These bands honk their horns, beat their drums, and wave their flags in the streets to reclaim public space for the purpose of revelry. All over the world they provide the people’s soundtrack for community gardens, public school yards, puppet shows, pride parades, worker rallies, peace marches, and neighborhood fundraisers.
HONK! bands attending the festival represent nearly every region of the United States, as well as some parts of Canada and Europe. The Festival will include Titubanda, the 40-piece activist street band from Rome, Italy; the return of the 35-piece MarchFourth Marching Band from Portland, Oregon; the Brass Liberation Orchestra from San Francisco; the Hungry March Band from New York City; and Environmental Encroachment from Chicago; as well as Caka!ak Thunder (Greensboro, NC); Rude Mechanical Orchestra (Brooklyn); The Himalayas with Lesser Panda (New York City); Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band (Somerville); The Scene of the Crime Rovers (Durham, NC); The Seed and Feed Marching Abominable (Atlanta, GA); the District Circus Marching Band (Washington, D.C.); Yellow Hat Band (Seattle, WA); The Leftist Marching Band (Portsmouth, NH); What Cheer? Brigade (Providence, RI); The Bread and Puppet Circus Band (Glover, VT); Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble (Montreal); and The Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (Somerville).
This unique gathering of brass bands will bring the music and dance of social justice to the streets of Somerville for the following events of the HONK! Festival:
1.Afternoon Symposia HONK! Symposia on “Politics and Festival” October 10, Friday, 12 noon to 6 p.m.
Tufts University
Free Admission
Description: Tufts University will host the educational and entertaining HONK! Symposia on “Politics and Festival” as part of a larger HONK! education and outreach effort of workshops and demonstrations to encourage community honking. As such, the symposium is free and open to the public and anyone interested in seeing a HONK! band in his or her own neighborhood is encouraged to attend. The symposia include:
- 12 noon – 1:30 p.m.: Workshop on The Praxis of HONK! Bands, a conversation with representatives of the HONK! bands gathered for the festival.
- 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Workshop on The Politics of HONK!, a discussion of the social and political challenges faced by HONK! bands, including self-definition, diversity and inclusion, professionalism and musicianship, group maintenance, financial sustainability, democratic organizing, and effective protest.
- 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Keynote Panel, a discussion featuring nationally-known scholar/activists.
2.All-Day Outdoor Music Festival HONK! in Davis Square October 11, Saturday, 11:30 to 9 p.m.
Davis Square, Somerville
Free Admission
Description: HONK! will occupy Davis Square for an entire day of street band festivities, including:
- 11:30 a.m. – 12 noon: Opening Ceremonies in Seven Hills Park, with Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz and other dignitaries, a performance of the What Is Honk? cantastoria, and the ritual first honk of the festival.
- 12 noon – 9 p.m.: All of the HONK! bands will disperse to seven different locations around the square, playing two 1-hour sets each. Spectators may also encounter spontaneous parades in the square.
3.HONK! Parade Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet October 12, Sunday, 12 noon to 2 p.m.
From Davis Square to Harvard Square
Description: The “Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet!” street parade will join local community groups and performers with HONK! brass bands in a massive procession beginning at Sacco’s Bowl Haven on Day Street, proceeding down Elm Street to Beech Street, and then processing down Massachusetts Avenue to Harvard Square. The parade will include all 24 brass bands and an equal number of community organizations including Cambridge Green Streets Initiative, the Open Air Circus, Bikes Not Bombs, the Boston Derby Dames, Veterans For Peace, Livable Streets, the Puppeteers Cooperative, and Vermont’s Bread and Puppet Theater. The HONK! parade invites any community group interested in participating to contact parade organizer John Bell (parade@honkfest.org).
4.HONK! at Oktoberfest October 12, Sunday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.?
Harvard Square
Description: The Harvard Square Business Association’s Oktoberfest will feature four different HONK! bands in performance on different stages in Harvard Square. See harvardsquare.com for details.
5.HONK! at the Dilboy October 12, Sunday, 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Dilboy VFW Hall, 371 Summer Street, Somerville
Admission: $20 suggested donation
Description: The HONK! Festival will close with an open concert and jam session at the George Dilboy Hall VFW Post featuring over a dozen HONK! bands, special section jams, and mash-ups of various HONK! groups.
BACKGROUND OF THE HONK! FESTIVAL
HONK! puts forth that music and dance are not for individuals to consume in isolation, but for everyone to create and enjoy together. All year HONK! bands put themselves and their music out on the streets, all over the world, for the purpose of uniting communities in joyful resistance to modern-day fatalism and oppression. On Columbus Day weekend, the HONK! movement converges on Davis Square in Somerville to celebrate creative diversity and solidarity, to benefit from the experiences and knowledge of fellow musicians and activists, and to create a giant street spectacle for everyone to enjoy.
An ad-hoc group of musicians, teachers, organizers, artists, and community leaders have joined forces with the local “raucous, stomp your feet and belt out the choruses” street band, the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society, to bring HONK! to the Boston area on a shoestring budget. Support has also come from the Davis Square Resident and Business Initiative (DARBI), the Somerville Arts Council, and the Puffin Foundation for the Arts.
The vast majority of support for HONK! has come in small contributions and in-kind donations. For the duration of the Festival, more than 250 musicians will be housed by gracious neighbors and friends of HONK!. Many Davis Square restaurants will generously provide food for the performers for the weekend. The bands are inspired to travel great distances at great personal expense to celebrate the HONK! movement together in Davis Square.
Continuing updates and the schedule of the HONK! Festival can be found at www.honkfest.org.
