Art & Cultural Events List

(Somerville, MA) For twelve years now, the HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands has been rocking out any outdoor complacency in Somerville and surrounding areas, with a rousing brass and percussive spectacle that's impossible to ignore. HONK! is all about building community, celebrating participatory culture, and standing up for social justice. Boisterous music, energetic dancing, flamboyant costumes, and eye-catching visual art prove to be the perfect combo for raising awareness about sociopolitical issues, all while putting a broad smile on the faces of everyone who participates. HONK! empowers all to take positive action and do it with gusto.

This year's HONK! will include all the features that have compelled thousands of participants to return year after year — family friendly Lantern Parades through the neighborhoods of Somerville; continuous free performances by dozens of HONK! bands all day in Davis Square; the venerable HONK! Parade down Massachusetts Avenue to "Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet,” followed by a full afternoon of HONK! performances at Oktoberfest in Harvard Square.

There will be way more than enough music for everyone. This year the HONK! bands total 27+, featuring many of the usual suspects, who come from all over the US. In addition, there will be many new bands, including two new all-women bands, Damas de Ferro from Rio de Janeiro and Seattle's Filthy FemCorps.
The complete list of 27+ HONK! bands (with band links at honkfest.org/2017-festival/bands-2017): 

aNova Brazil (Somerville, MA); Black Sheep Ensemble (Atlanta, GA); Boycott (Somerville, MA); The Brass Balagan (Burlington, VT); Brass Liberation Orchestra (San Francisco, CA); The Bread and Puppet Circus Band (Glover, VT); Caka!ak Thunder (Greensboro, NC); Chaotic Noise Marching Corps (Seattle, WA); Damas de Ferro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); Dead Music Capital Band (Austin, TX); Dirty Water Brass Band (Boston, MA); Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band (Somerville, MA); Expandable Brass Band (Northampton, MA); Extraordinary Rendition Band (Providence, RI); The Filthy FemCorps (Seattle, WA); Forward! Marching Band (Madison, WI); Hartford Hot Several (Hartford, CT); Hungry March Band (Brooklyn, NY); Leftist Marching Band (Portsmouth, NH); New Creations Brass Band (New Orleans, LA); The Party Band (Lowell, MA); Rara Bel Poze (Boston, MA); Rude Mechanical Orchestra (New York City, NY); School of HONK (Somerville, MA); Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (Somerville, MA); What Cheer? Brigade (Providence, RI); and Yes Ma'am Brass Band (Austin, TX). Plus Banda de Paz (Boston, MA) will be joining the HONK! Parade down Massachusetts Ave.

HONK! is a non-profit, with a very limited budget. The annual Kickstarter fundraiser is now in full swing: www.honkfest.org/kickstarter, with a deadline of September 29th to reach its goal of $15,000. No donation is too small, or too large! Visit honkfest.org/help for more information on tax-deductible donations.

HONK! is also an all-volunteer organization, where many hands lighten the impressive list of festival to-dos. All who are interested in experiencing the strong sense of camaraderie that HONK! generates, can email volunteer@honkfest.org plus housing@honkfest.org. Visit honkfest.org/help for more information on volunteer opportunities.

For complete information and continuous updates on the HONK! Festival, visit www.honkfest.org, www.facebook.com/honkfestival, and www.twitter.com/honkfest.

Basic information:

HONK! FestivalFestival of activist street bands.
October 6-8, 2017
Various neighborhoods throughout Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston.
Rain or shine; free and open to all.
For further information: www.honkfest.org, 617-383-HONK (4665).