HONK!TX provides a unique sound in Austin streets

The street bands festival took place April 1 to 3

This past weekend the area surrounding the University of Texas was inundated with people attending the numerous events in the vicinity. Round Up, Texas Relays, 40 Acres Fest, and let’s not forget: Honk.

“HONK!TX is a nonprofit, community-driven festival that brings street brass bands from around the country to perform for free In the public spaces of Austin, Texas,” the official HONK!TX website reads.

During Honk, bands come from around the nation and the world to perform in Austin for three days. On Saturday they performed at Adams Park, next to Spider House café.
The street and brass bands provided a unique groove for audience members on Saturday.

While some students got ready for Round-up, Texas Relays, or the 40 Acres fest, less than a mile away Honk was moving crowds with their unique, harmonious tone.

Honk brought audience together around music.

“The point of Honk, is pure joy, the concept is that we are reactivating the community,” Chris McMillan, member of DMC band, and one of the organizers of Honk said. “You put a band in a park and people start showing up.”

The festival began on Friday on South Congress, then proceeded to Adams Park on Saturday and concluded at Pan-Am Park on Sunday.

I stumbled upon HONK on Saturday morning on my way to 40 Acres Fest. I was allured by the sound of the unique rhythm of the multiple performers and bands playing in the open space next to Spider House Café.

It was a sound I was not used to hearing, but that captivated my harmonic senses. I instantly found myself moving to the beat of the music.

Honk was started in Somerville in Boston in 2007. Bands who participated in the original Honk organized Honk festivals in their respective towns. Now there is Honk music festivals around the world, said Chris.

The event takes six to eight months to organize by a group of 12 volunteers, but the results are monumental. The crowds around the playing bands cannot help but move to the grove of the music.

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