So inspring to see Brass Solidarity from Minneapolis leading the 2026 Honk Festival of Activist Street Bands parade from Somerville’s Davis Square to Cambridge’s Harvard Square on Sunday, Oct. 11. Born from the movement for Black Liberation in Minneapolis’s George Floyd Square, they were part of the heroic defense of the city over the winter from murdering federal goons. And, oh, goodness, their music!
The Honk Festival began here in 2006 and has since spread around the globe. This year’s event featured 34 bands from as far away as Austin, San Francisco, New Orleans and DC, beginning with lantern parades on Friday, Oct. 9, and continuing through the parade and performances around Harvard Square on Sunday, Oct. 11.
My photos of Honk are included in the group exhibition “Looking Back At 20 Years Of Honk” at Somerville City Hall from Oct. 8 to 31, 2026. I’ve been documenting the Honk Festival for two decades: https://gregcookland.com/wonderland/tag/honk/
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Brass Solidarity from Minneapolis performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville performs in the Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. . (©Greg Cook photo) Forward! Marching Band from Madison, Wisconsin, in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Hula-hoopers in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) DC Activist Street Band from Washington in Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Unlawful Assembly from Minneapolis performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Members of Forward! Marching Band of Madison, Wisconsin, kiss at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Tibetan Association of Boston in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville in the Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Brass Solidarity from Minneapolis performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Cambridge For Palestine in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Sara Peattie of Boston Puppeteers Cooperative in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) “Keep ICE Off Campus” in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Extraordinary Rendition Band from Providence in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont leads a Honk Festival lantern parade in Somerville, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Brass Balagan from Burlington, Vermont, in the Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Mass 350.org in Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Detroit Party Marching Band in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Stilter Shawn Morrissey preparing for the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) 8-Bit Brass Band from Seattle in Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Brass Solidarity from Minneapolis performs on the main stage in Cambridge’s Harvard Square at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) School of Honk from Somerville performs at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Sara Peattie of Boston Puppeteers Cooperative leads a lantern-making workshop in Somerville’s Hodgkins-Curtin Park before lantern parades around the neighborhood. Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Undertow Brass Band from Providence in the Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Good Trouble Brass Band performs at the reception for the “Looking Back at 20 Years of Honk” exhibit at Somerville City Hall on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Stilters from Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont preparing for the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Brass Balagan from Burlington, Vermont, in the Honk Festival Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Jamaica Plain Honk Band (JP Honk) from Boston performs on the Honk Festival main stage in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Boston Puppeteers Cooperative in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Jamaica Plain Honk Band (JP Honk) from Boston steps up onto the Honk Festival main stage in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Trump caricature in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Forward! Marching Band from Madison, Wisconsin, in the Honk Parade, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) At the Honk Festival main stage in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) Brass Solidarity from Minneapolis performs on the main stage in Cambridge’s Harvard Square at the Honk Festival, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (©Greg Cook photo) 
