HONK! Fest momentum picks up steam, w/20+ bands, multiple programs, volunteer recruiting. etc.; all free, held outdoors, rain or shine -- runs Oct. 6-9, 2022

[Mary C. Curtin]

HONK! FESTIVAL
17TH ANNUAL

FESTIVAL OF
ACTIVIST STREET BANDS
THIS YEAR TOTALING 20+

[Second Line Social Aid &
Pleasure Society Brass Band,
founding band of all things HONK!;
in Nubian Square for HONK! 2021;
photo credit Greg Cook,
gregcookand.com/wonderland.]

October 6 through 9, 2022

a wide variety of musical /
activist events planned in
Somerville, Cambridge,
and Boston

HELD OUTDOORS,
RAIN OR SHINE,
FREE, OPEN TO ALL

What’s in store for this year’s HONK! 2022? For starters, the HONK! 2022 bands total 20 at current count, with many local and relatively local returning bands, who have participated pretty regularly in HONK! since it was instigated in 2006 by the Somerville-based Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, HONK!’s founder and organizer. Even during the height of the pandemic, HONK! managed to maintain its annual HONK! presence, with 2020’s virtual HONK! United and 2021’s hyperlocal one-day Fest held on-site in various neighborhoods throughout the Somerville/Cambridge/Boston-area. In other words, HONK! never missed their annual beat.

The current list of bands for 2022 can be found at honkfest.org/2022-festival/bands-2022. Within that list you’ll discover that there are also a few bands coming in, as in physically coming in, from far outside New England, with Banda Rim Bam Bum traveling in from Santiago, Chile, and the NOLA-based Young Fellaz Brass Band returning to HONK! after a hiatus of several years.

The complete HONK! Festival performance and activities schedules will be made available online on or soon after September 26th, with ongoing updates after that. So keep checking in at honkfest.org. This year's HONK! will include many of the HONK! features that have compelled so many of us to return year after year, including Lantern Parades, continuous HONK! band performances throughout the weekend, the exciting HONK! Parade from Davis Square to Harvard Square, several calls-to-action, and more.

But also take not that there are a few new or newly re-visited HONK! initiatives happening this year:

-- on Thursday, Oct. 6, 6:30 pm: Banda Rim Bam Bum from Santiago, Chile, will be showcased at the Cambridge Public Library (Main Branch, 449 Broadway). An early evening of music and conversation, with their band members sharing the recent constitutional process and the political evolution of the country since the revolt of October 2019. Free and open to all. Co-hosted by the HONK! Festival and Cambridge Public Library: Further information will be made available soon at both www.cambridgema.gov/cpl and honkfest.org/2022-festival/.

-- Hoot Pick-Up Band: Musicians who are not members of an organized band but would like to participate musically in HONK! (or anyone performing with other bands but wanting to do more!) are invited to join the Hoot Pick-Up Band. Send an email to ho...@honkfest.org and please include your instrument and your level of proficiency.

-- HONK! call for volunteers: After over 2 years of programming with maintaining a distance in mind for safety reasons, HONK! is returning to its in-person all outdoor format. Given that, the festival cannot happen without all the musicians, artists, organizers, activists, friends, participants, and fans. The weekend’s tasks are varied and plentiful, and there are many ways in which HONK! can use help to make the 2022 festival run smoothly. Even a one-hour shift of passing the bucket or working the merch table helps enormously. Plus, it is a great way to be totally immersed in the vibrant HONK! scene: honkfest.org/help.

-- on HONK! Sunday early afternoon, the venerable HONK! Parade will again wend its way down Massachusetts Avenue from Davis Square to Harvard Square, making HONK!’s formidable presence known at the Square’s Oktoberfest. The Parade’s mission is to "Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet” and will include this year’s participating bands, plus many activist community groups. Interested community groups are welcome to contact par...@honkfest.org if they’d like to participate in the parade.

A reminder that the HONK! Festival, the 17th Annual Festival of Activist Street Bands, will be held rain or shine from October 6-9. Free and open to all. If interested in volunteering, contact volu...@honkfest.org. For further information, contact in...@honkfest.org, as well as keep checking in at honkfest.org, facebook.com/honkfestival and twitter.com/honkfest.

HONK! on!



--submitted by marycurtinproductions [on behalf of the HONK! Festival]
c/o Mary Curtin
PO Box 290703, Charlestown, MA 02129
617-470-5867 (cell), mary.c...@gmail.com
"dedicated to staging insightful entertainment, particularly in non-traditional venues"
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