By Ashley Troutman

Last year's HONK! Festival. - Photo by Allison Mowrer

Join over 200 musicians for a Mardi Gras style celebration on Columbus Day weekend. The Honk! Festival is known as a “revolutionary street spectacle of never-before-seen-proportions.”

The festival will kick off on Oct. 8 with a performance by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, from 3 to 5 p.m. The 30-odd-piece marching band and dance troupe seeks to support those working for social justice with their music. Local members from the Somerville High School Marching Band, Highlander Drum Line, and World Percussion Ensemble will accompany the orchestra in Union Square.

The next day, over 25 street bands will play in Davis Square, starting at noon. Street bands have been growing in popularity for the last several years. Basing there sound on folk music traditions such as Mardi Gras and Carnival, the bands create a unique sound, and each has their own edge.

Ken Field, Musician and Member of the Honk! Festival Organizing Committee, said, “It’s incredible. It’s really something you have to experience if you haven’t. People say that it’s the closest thing to Mardi gras that they’ve ever seen outside of New Orleans.”

On Sunday, the Honk! Parade to “reclaim the streets for horns, bikes, and feet,” will feature the festival’s bands, Bread & Puppet Theater, and local arts and community organizations. The parade will begin in Davis Square, leaving there at noon and traveling to Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest celebration.

From 8 p.m. to midnight, Honk’s! final show will be on stage at The Somerville Theatre. In 4 hours, 20 brass bands perform, at $10 a ticket. “We have a huge blow out show with all the bands playing and a jam session at the end on stage,” Field said. “These are all bands who use there music to accomplish things other than just playing music. They use their music for social activism or political activism. It’s about doing something positive for your community.”