Written by Neil Horsky, this column was originally published in the October 2014 issue of the Boston Compass

Art by H. Rose Parry, “Honk”

On Columbus Day Weekend 2006 the first Honk! festival activated the sidewalks, parks, plazas and people of Davis Square with jubilant music that recalls the parading traditions of New Orleans, Haiti, Brazil and the Balkans. Organized by the Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band, the inaugural event gathered together bands from coast to coast to “Reclaim the streets for horns, bikes and feet.”

An annual all-volunteer festival, Honk! exemplifies a spirit of DIY. Without amplification, admission fees, stages or staff, Honk! draws local crowds and faraway talent to dance and play in the streets. Honk’s spirit is contagious, where audience members return home to form their own activist street band, or occasionally a whole new festival as in Seattle, Austin and elsewhere.
John Bell, Honk! organizer and longtime contributor to Bread & Puppet Theater, described to me the death and life of parading in America:

The Age of the Automobile imposed a dullness, predictability, and frigidity upon what was a vibrant, thriving musical parading culture. Through Honk! new generations experiment with both a resurrection of a celebratory street life and a retooling of parading as activism.