HONK! Festival: 13th annual fest of activist street bands, this year totaling 28 plus with a wide variety of musical/activist events scheduled.

Going on thirteen years strong and remaining intense, the HONK! Festival’s game plan was initially conceived and implemented pop-up style in Somerville. Turns out, it was a great idea, which now has not only catapulted the creation of similar festivals across this land and beyond, it has also inspired rally organizers everywhere to engage HONK!-style bands when planning urgent street gatherings to effect positive change.

This year the HONK! bands total 28+, with the majority coming from across the US & Canada. Visit http://honkfest.org/2018-festival/bands-2018 for this year’s list of participants.

If the rallying cry is for spur-of-the-moment action, no worries, since there just may be a HONK! band close by to pep up the rally a notch or three. Part of the beauty of the HONK! concept is that it has inspired musicians and would-be musicians, many of whom are not geared to parading in the streets, into modifying how they approach their style, so they too can pick up and go. Wearable drum kits, backpack amps, melodicas galore. Where there’s a will to act musically, there’s a way to do it pro-actively. Any New Orleans street musician can serve as a role model.

HONK! means serious business when it comes to waging peace and social justice, but the HONK! vibe also brings fun to this equation. By disturbing complacency, a rousing brass and percussive spectacle is impossible to ignore. HONK! builds community, encouraging participation by way of rambunctious music, uninhibited dancing, wild costumes, and evocative visual street art.

For complete information and continuous updates on the HONK! Festival and the many activities planned, visit http://www.honkfest.org, http://www.facebook.com/honkfestival, and http://www.twitter.com/honkfest.

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT!
Marginalization of Women and Violence in the Left

Saturday, Sept. 15, 10:15 – 1:45 (lunch provided)
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl Street, Cambridge
RSVP requested to bostonsocialistunity(AT)gmail.com

• “The Learned Behaviors of a Capitalist Society, Even in the Left”
  Boston Liberation Health Group

• “The Umbrella of Sexual Violence and How to Be an Active Bystander”
  Boston Area Rape Crisis Center

• “Violence against Women of Color”
  encuentro 5

Examining problems such as marginalization of women and violence is critical to building a strong movement. This requires a collective effort of activists and leaders; we must work together to create the vibrant energy of full community. We must demand better of ourselves and our groups, and we need everyone to be part of these challenging conversations. Join us for an amazing day of learning and reflection in solidarity with women!

Monday, Sept 3, 11:30 to 6, Campagnone Common, Lawerence MA

As the region’s only true Labor Day festival, 34th Annual Bread & Roses Heritage Festival is an open-air arts and music festival honoring Lawrence, Massachusetts’ multi-cultural roots and rich labor history while commemorating the most significant event in Lawrence history: the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike. A day of activism and family fun, the Festival boasts 3 stages of socially conscious performances, an array of family activities, rows of community vendors, historical trolley and walking tours, culturally diverse food offerings, educational presentations and more!

SCHEDULE: https://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/schedule

HIGHLIGHTS

• Historic Trolley Tours: FREE 50 minute tour of the historic mill town, Lawrence, MA. Departs from City Hall every 30 minutes starting at 12:00pm, with the last trolley at 4:00pm. Get TICKETS in advance at the Friends of Lawrence Heritage State Park tent (these fill up quickly).
  Los paseos en trolley con guía en español salen a las 2:00pm, 3:00pm y 4:00pm. Busque su boleta en la mesa de “Friends of Lawrence Heritage State Park.”
• Historic Walking Tours: FREE. Leaves from the Strikers’ Monument on the Common across from City Hall and goes through the mill district, focusing on the Strike of 1912.
• Commemoration Ceremony at 11:30AM at the 1912 Textile Workers’ Strikers’ Monument across from City Hall. Welcome by the Chair of the 1912 Strikers’ Monument Committee, the President of the Bread and Roses Heritage Committee, and Mayor Dan Rivera
• Celebration of Dreamers and Doers for Social Justice – We will celebrate the accomplishments and ongoing organizing efforts of several local workers’ campaigns.
• “Hustle and Soul”- A group of young, local creatives present an eclectic multimedia production will take festival-goers on a thought-provoking experience to explore the topics of intergenerational struggles, the immigrant/urban experience, and reimagining the future of the City of Immigrants.
• Lawrence History Live! – Historians, workers, and union representatives present their insights into Lawrence’s history and today’s workers’ issues and actions in a centrally located speakers’ tent. Lawrence History Live! also includes a Community Forum which offers in-depth discussion of the current housing crisis. Festival visitors are encouraged to participate and contribute their views in a Q&A format.
• Community Corner – In the tradition of the labor, free-speech, and civil rights movements, we are providing a soap box, open to all, to step up and have a voice. https://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/soapbox
• Family Activities – Family entertainment includes an international food court, pony rides, walking and trolley tours, a magic show, learn about reptiles, and portrait artist Ed Bray. The highly popular Kidz Zone will feature an eclectic mix of arts and crafts by the Lawrence Arts House (La House), a community based expressive arts studio with a therapeutic framework that reclaims art-making as a process for healing. MORE: https://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/familyactivities

Festival on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2139542119708500