By: Nick Sardella
“Somerville wants to use you / Somerville wants to be used by you”
The above words, a riff on the lyrics of the popular song “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, represent a sort of rallying cry for the HONK! Festival. Unlike most of what we normally call "music festivals" today, HONK! is a non-commercial affair that attempts to “Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet” by gathering activist bands from around the country (and beyond) to take over public spaces. The festival is a whirlwind of sights and sounds, surrounding attendees from the moment they enter to the moment they leave.
I attended HONK! 2019 for just a few hours on Saturday, October 12 in Davis Square with the intent only to "authentically" capture as much of my experience as I could. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from HONK! I had read some articles and oral histories of the festival and even met a couple of the organizers, so I had some idea of the issues most important to festival administration--but when I arrived in Davis Square, I nevertheless walked in largely cold. I started by simply filming everything I saw as I entered. The resulting clip (above), while admittedly unpolished (and much to my chagrin, filmed vertically), portrays what I saw almost as if through my own eyes. That video captures one of the very first things that stuck me: the “rallying cry” I mentioned above. Except, I realized later upon viewing my video again, that was not what I heard at all. Listening closely, it is clear that the lyrics to “Sweet Dreams” as performed by the Forward! Marching Band are unchanged from the original: What I heard as “Somerville” was actually “some of them.” An understandable mondegreen, but one which also points out the subjectivity of experience. I probably would not have heard “Somerville” if I had not been primed with certain expectations for the HONK! Festival. With that understanding, realize that the experience documented here is entirely my own, filtered through time and partially frozen by the notes, photos, and videos I took. This is all to say that my experience documenting HONK! was both fascinating and flawed.
So, given all that, what did I actually observe at HONK!? I was primed to focus on certain features - activism, use of public space, and, of course, music - and these ended up being some of the most interesting aspects of the experience. I also wanted to see exactly how HONK! made use of its space in Davis Square on that Saturday.
HONK! uses its space caringly, lovingly, and intentionally. When a spectator arrives at HONK!, they become enveloped in it. The map above shows the layout from Saturday. The festival is fairly contiguous, centered around an art space on Elm St. with local businesses open as usual, many taking advantage of the festival for possibly the best business day of their year. The seven stages, spread out as they are, are still close enough that one can easily walk from one end to the other in just a few minutes. Music is everywhere. Another point-of-view video (below) shows my walk through part of the art space, noting several of the art installations. Music and the sounds of people talking fill the air. Children work on an art project. A woman contributes to a banner boldly printed with the word “ACTION."
The festival organizers pay close attention to detail. Their desire to create an inclusive and conscious space is evidenced by extra recycling and trash bins placed throughout the festival space as well as a water fountain set up on Elm St. in a central location, even having bowls on the ground so that dogs can stay hydrated as well. The water station encouraged people to consume more consciously by drinking local water. HONK! made the space truly their own on that Saturday, imbuing it with their spirit of activism and equal opportunity, as well as representing their desire to make full use of the public resources we have available to us.
What I found surprisingly effective about HONK! was how well-organized it felt, even though the presence of volunteers and organizers was minimal. The street closing aside, it almost felt like something that might just have popped up spontaneously. Attention had clearly been given to the planning, but the event seemed to transpire effortlessly. Band transitions happened fairly quickly (even if I once overheard a band member expressing uncertainty over where exactly they were supposed to be playing). There were information booths in Statue Park, but that seemed to be the only place of official HONK! presence. While Elm St. was shut down and there were Somerville police barriers set up in a few spaces, the presence of police or other authorities was minimal as well. In a sense, the overall atmosphere of HONK! can be described as one of organized chaos. Just enough organization that it can be pulled off, but not enough that it feels like a fully organized or corporate venture. HONK! is a world of its own, but, significantly, a transient one.
Ultimately I do believe HONK! lives up to its goal to “Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet.” I can’t say I saw many bikes in Davis Square, but there were a lot of feet, and a lot of horns for sure - and also a lot of activism. The ways activism manifested in the space were fascinating as well. On a basic level, all of the bands are or were in some way "activist." And indeed, even if you had no idea what HONK! was about, it would be nearly impossible to attend the Festival without coming to the conclusion that it was a deeply activist space. People milled through the streets, bearing clipboards to sign petitions, wearing shirts proclaiming their beliefs, or waving posters calling for action. Bands chanted in call and response such things as: “Power to the people - no one is illegal!” A sticker worn on many people’s clothes boldly declared: “Trump/Pence must go!” The Rude Mechanical Orchestra boldly chanted that, “Everybody has the right to live!”
Significantly, too, HONK! is entirely free, open to all. In this sense HONK! is truly egalitarian; indeed, its organizing committee is non-hierarchical and entirely volunteer based. HONK! lives up to the activist missions of many of its bands and organizers for all people to be truly equal. In my time at the festival, I saw people happily using public space to enjoy themselves, but also to engage in important work. Not everything at HONK! necessarily results in direct change to the state of the world outside, but for one weekend, HONK! creates a transcendent space of its own, filled with music and laughter and love, and people take that experience back with them to wherever they come from. This is probably why the influence of HONK! has spread so widely, with over twenty festivals bearing the name taking place across the nation and the world. While HONK! in Somerville and Cambridge is a transient event, creating an exceptional place for just a few days every year, it has become something much more than that: a concept as much as it is a space or an event, one that lives in memories and in the anticipation of its next occurrence.
"Somerville wants to use you / Somerville wants to be used by you." As I thought I heard the Forward! Marching Band proclaim, our public spaces are sitting there, often left unused. HONK! reminds us that they are there for us, waiting and wanting to be used. The essay I have written a faulty document; all documents are. I have not even begun to recreate HONK! through these words and images and sounds; memory fades, as with any live moment. But I felt it when I was there, and hope that these words and images and sounds at least begin to conjure a sense of what it is like to be at the festival. In a way the transience of HONK! is what makes it so notable and effective. For one weekend a year, Somerville and Cambridge are transformed into an exceptional space. HONK! puts the next play in the control of the attendee. And that is how it needs to be. It lives in our memories, but challenges us to go out and continue what it started, to bring its spirit home with us.
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