Over Columbus Day Weekend, street bands from around the country converged on Davis Square for the second annual Honk! Music Festival.
Bands from locations as diverse as San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, North Carolina and Oregon traveled cross-country to meet and perform in Davis. The Pink Puffers Drum & Brass Phunk Band flew all the way from Rome to participate in the festival, which celebrated a diverse blend of music heavily influenced by the tunes and spirit of New Orleans brass bands, European Klesmer, traditional gypsy melodies, Brazilian Afro Bloc, Mardi Gras and Carnivale.
As I rounded the corner of the new Granoff Music Center on Friday afternoon, I inadvertently walked directly into a spontaneous celebration of music, dance and street culture.
Drummers, horn-players, hula-hoopers and passers-by clustered in a circle around one man fiercely conducting an improvised jam session. The painted bus from the Bread & Puppet Circus Band looked strangely out of place parked in front of Aidekman, as students gravitated towards the sounds of laughter and applause.
The evening air throbbed with a New Orleans beat as the bands played on.
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