I had an awesome time the past couple of days watching the bands at Honkfest 2007 in Davis Square on Saturday. And today watching the parade pass through Porter Square as they marched from Somerville to Octoberfest in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
It was a great, high spirited event with a lot of good music and a wild cast of characters. I really like the burlesque-circus-rock-n-roll atmosphere that pervaded the neighborhood for the weekend. From noon to 7 on Saturday, a dozen or so "honk bands" performed rolling shows at 5 locations around Davis Square. The bands came from all over, as far away as Rome, Italy, Portland, Oregon, Louisiana, New York, Chicago, North Carolina and all over New England.
Today's parade featured performers on stilts, rolling circus wheels, Leftist Marching Bands, and John Philip Souza songs. They took over Mass Ave in Cambridge for a couple of hours, causing traffic delays, but those in their cars were really enjoying the music and the spectacle of it all. What a great time and it continues into this evening with performances on the Harvard Square Octoberfest Stage.
Overall an awesome, awesome event. I took a bunch of photos and some movies, check them out here. One aspect of the event that's particularly unique is their social documentation effort. It's being coordinated through a Ning page where everyone is collectively sharing their photos, video and blog posts. Check it out!