HONK! Festival
Davis Square, Somerville MA
www.honkfest.org
This year's third annual HONK! Festival will once again endeavor to create an exuberant street party, and imagine a world where everyone is free and anything can happen.
On Friday, October 10, Tufts University will host a HONK! Education Day, including a symposium on "Politics and Festival," as well as several hands-on workshops focussing on the challenges faced by honk bands, including democratic organizing, varying levels of musicianship, tools of effective protest, and honk band self-definition and -preservation. Anyone considering starting his or her own honk band is encouraged to attend.
On Saturday, October 11, after the opening ceremonies at noon in Seven Hills Park, bands will disperse to different locations around the square, playing free, outdoor performances all afternoon: don’t be surprised if you suddenly find a brass band, complete with stilt walkers, twirlers, and hula-hooping bunny-rabbits, parading around a familiar street corner!
Saturday evening, a cabaret-style performance of all of the bands will take place at Outside The Lines, a community art space at 70 Colby Street in Medford. This performance is also open to the public, for a suggested donation of $10.
Then, on Sunday, October 12, the street spectacle will explode onto Mass Ave and merge with Oktoberfest in Harvard Square. A street parade to "Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet!" will feature all participating honk bands as well as several community organizations, includuding Bread and Puppet Theater, Derby Dames, Bikes Not Bombs, Somerville siaAbilities, Open Air Circus, Livable Streets Alliance, and many others. All are welcome to spectate, and anyone interested in participating in the parade should arrive at the set-up location one hour prior to the starting time.
