October 13, 2022 | FEIXU CHEN
Did you hear the sound of a truck honking during the weekend of Oct. 8th? Well, the sound of honking, but not the truck. It’s the HONK! Festival! When the music started, people knew HONK! had arrived. A sunny weekend filled the entire plaza and streets, sharing the same public space.
The HONK! Festival started with bands playing at street level, usually for free, with no stages to elevate them above the crowd and no sound systems or speaker columns to separate performers from participants. These bands are active, activist, and deeply engaged in their communities, sometimes alongside unions and grassroots groups in outright political protest or community-building activity.
As the co-founder of this festival, the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band aims for social equality. This year, located in Davis Square on Saturday and Harvard Square on Sunday, the committee expressed their goal as “Social, Economic and Environmental Justice.”
Ken Field, one of the original members who founded HONK! Festival said in the opening ceremony, “The bands are independent, with their own focus. We have bands from Kansas, Texas, to Santiago in Chile.
“I think free and public music should be accessible to everyone,” said Rayyan Saiyed, a trumpeter from the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass, who talked about his unique view of music and the HONK!
“The idea is that music is not only something you can listen to but also something you can participate in. You can enjoy it, it’s free, and music can be used to move philosophical and political forces and community with each other.” Rayyan received his musical initiation from his home state, Kansas, and has played the trumpet ever since.
Rayyan explained that the HONK! Festival is a way of giving appreciation for the origin of Jazz music. For example, a lot of music played in this festival is originally from New Orleans Jazz Music, predominantly produced by Black musicians. “We should pay more homage to that.” Rayyan said that’s something remarkable. In fact, the HONK! Festival is a way to show the world where this type of music was created and contribute to the ancestors.
Music has always been a way to subvert injustice and promote protest. But, again, it’s about unity, engagement and voice. A significant result of HONK! is the arrival of people from all parts of the Boston area into Somerville.
“I hope that this event brings people together,” he said. Although Rayyan doesn’t live in Somerville, his opinion about free and accessible music is generated by bringing people of all different types together to listen to, dance with, and understand each other. He thinks that we might be speaking different languages. But music is the world language we all share.
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