Honkfest performers rock Davis Square
Friday they talked and played. Saturday they closed off part of Davis Square and played. And Sunday they marched from Davis to Harvard Square -- and played.
They are the musicians, acrobats, cyclists and friends who were part of Honkfest this weekend in Somerville.
Coming from all over the country, marching bands blending klezmer, funk, Bollywood, Mardi Gras and carnival into a spectacle came to throw a party -- and played for the runners of the Somerville Homeless Coaltion's annual road race.
Many play puppet shows, pride parades, rallies of all sorts and neighborhood fundraisers, and often they don't get paid.
On Friday, the musicians were part of a symposium on the philosophy of Honk at Tufts University, discussing street bands, civic engagement and social change. They then played for each other at the Dilboy VFW Post.
On Saturday, they were the free public performances offered on Chester Street after the Somerville Homeless Coalition race.
On Sunday, they marched from the Dilboy Post to Harvard Square, where they were expected to join in Octoberfest.
Led by Tom and Ray Magliozzi -- NPR's Click and Clack hauled in a pedicab -- the parade started off a little after noon.
Parade participants included Original Big Seven Club and Big, Livable Streets Alliance, Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, Puppeteers Cooperative, Dassia Posner and Company , Leftist Marching Band, Cracked and MIT flag wavers, Lesser Panda & Himalayas, Femmes/Drag Queens, Ben Matchstick. Somerville Teen Band, Redbones Delivery Bikes, Assorted Stilters, Hungry March Band, Derby Dames, Somerville disAbilities (wheelchairs), Caka!ak Thunder,. Bread and Puppet, Brass Liberation Orchestra, Near and Now One-Man Band , What Cheer? Brigade, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble, Tumbling for Two, Veterans for Peace , Environmental Encroachment, Cambridge Green Streets Initiative, Open Air Circus (including kid stilters), Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Parents with Strollers, Belly Dancers, Black Bear Combo, Sacco and Vanzetti Commemorative, Tufts Social Justice Arts Initiative, Star Wheel, March Fourth Marching Band (with acrobats), and Dogs and Owners.
HONK! is presented by Great Small Works, the Somerville Arts Council, the Davis Square Area Resident and Business Initiative, the Harvard Square Business Association, and the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. For more information, visit www.honkfest.org.