HONK! Fest momentum picks up steam, w/20+ street bands, multiple programs, & more -- Oct. 6-9, 2022
eMusic Wire/10201800

SOMERVILLE, Mass. - eMusicWire -- HONK! Festival (honkfest.org). The worldwide activist street band movement. Perhaps you've heard of it. Or perhaps, if not, you can catch-up by first checking out this wiki, since yes, HONK! does warrant its own: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HONK! While there, you will also discover that, yes, this movement all began right here in Somerville, Mass.

This worldwide HONK! movement was instigated in October 2006 by the Somerville-based Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. That very first ever HONK! Festival is now going on seventeen years strong on the local level, prevailing annually in early October, even in spite of the very recent tough years. HONK! has always been clear on its most basic premise, to literally blast out, musically loud and rhythmically direct, a call to come together. To gather outside in celebrating the many positive aspects of life – while also delivering a heads up if those positives take a negative turn.

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During those aforementioned tough recent years, specifically 2020 and 2021, the Somerville-based HONK! organizers just pivoted to present those particular annual HONK!s in ways that made sense given the obvious obstacles. In 2020, HONK! United (honkunited.org) was born, a very spirited international online collaboration. Through that endeavor, HONK! became increasingly aware of kindred spirit bands who are very active within their own home fronts, some bands located as far afield as Antarctica, Nicaragua, and Brazil. It is a fact that HONK! is indeed a movement that keeps growing worldwide. At last count, there are now over 21 large HONK! gatherings that have been held throughout the world, several of which are held annually.

In 2021, the Somerville-based HONK! turned its eye to championing very hyperlocal neighborhood causes, narrowing its programming date to a specific day, and within that, branching out to support even more Boston-area communities, which often encompass neighborhoods that are only a few city blocks wide. The bands who participated in 2021 also harkened from more local areas. In other words, bands who were able to head back and sleep in their own respective beds at the end of the HONK! 2021 day.

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For 2022, the band participation will continue to include many local HONK!-related bands who have sprouted up over the years, inspired by the original HONK! efforts that all began in Somerville. But this year, there will also be 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 current list of band participants for 2022 can be found at https://honkfest.org/2022-festival/bands-2022.

Basic listings information:
HONK! Festival
17th Annual Festival of Activist Street Bands.
October 6-9, 2022
Held in Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston neighborhoods.
Held outdoors rain or shine.
Free and open to all; if interested in volunteering, contact volunteer@honkfest.org.
For further information: www.honkfest.org, info@honkfest.org, 781-285-8639.

The full press release text can be found at:
http://cdn.honkfest.org/wp-content/images/HONKP... .