Photos & Video: Honk! Festival Takes over Harvard Square in Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Despite a rainy start, thousands descended upon Harvard Square in Cambridge to celebrate two festivals in one day, the 39th Annual Oktoberfest and 12th annual Honk! festival and parade.

Eric Sudman, an organizer with the Honk Festival Committee said the unique celebration centers around activism, music and community. The gathering of activist street bands started in Somerville in 2006 and has grown exponentially, spreading to cities like Montpelier, Vermont, Eugene Oregon, Perth, Australia and Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Each October, groups gather and dress up to parade from Davis Square in Somerville a few miles down Mass. Ave. to Harvard Square.

Executive Director of Harvard Square Business Association Denise Jillson said the event went off with out a hitch.

"We're always concerned with safety and there were no incidents to report so that's a big thing for us," she said.

Jillson said there were estimates of 100,000 people who visited Harvard Square on Sunday for the parade and festival.

"It's a little light compared to previous years," she said. "We always get people from New Hampshire and the Cape, so since the weather was a bit iffy in the morning that probably deterred some people."

The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band founded the HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands over a decade ago. The festival now lasts three days. This year, kickoff events were held at Once Somerville and Aeronaut Brewing on Friday and continued into Saturday in Davis Square.

Honk! Festival organizer Eric Sudman / Photo by Dana Forsythe

"It's just a fun, free, unique experience," Sudman said. "If you didn't know that punk rock marching bands were a thing, now you do."

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Next week, Providence, Rhode Island and New York City will each host their own Honk! festivals. While the idea has spread, Sudman said organizers want to keep the Somerville/Cambridge event neighborhood-sized.

"We're happy to see it spread but we like to keep ours small and close to home," he said.

Jillson said the number of bands, down to 27 from last year's 35, seemed a bit more manageable for organizers.

"It's a lot of work, which includes housing all of these bands, but it went really well," she said. "We're already looking towards the 40th Oktoberfest next year."

Check out our photos from the Honk! Festival in Cambridge below.

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe

Photo by Dana Forsythe