HONK!

So you thought you were just going to a music festival...

By: Iris Feldman

You first realize you have encountered HONK! as the proportion of people dressed head to toe in polka dots increases beyond what you might expect to see on an ordinary day in the streets of Somerville. 

One of HONK!'s Principles of Unity is: "We believe that music in the streets helps to reclaim and redefine the use of public space."

But the festival also reclaims the streets by changing the visual landscape of Somerville. When you first think of HONK! it is easy to assume that the experience will be mostly auditory. However the first sprinklings of HONK! into your consciousness are visual. The first thing that you experience walking into HONK!, before you hear a note of music, are people wearing amazing costumes. That’s how you find the right subway stop and those are the people you follow to find the bands. This powerful visual shift manifests not only in the designated HONK! areas, but throughout Boston. From the minute performers leave their homes dressed for HONK!, they are sprinkling their activism throughout their commute. The visual language of HONK! pulls apart our standard perceptions of gender, disability, and activism. 

 

This page has paths:

Contents of this path: