Music and Marching Bands Parade Past Somerville Apartments During HONK!

The first HONK! came together in 2006. The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band, already well known around town, teamed up with other street bands to put music back where they thought it belonged—outdoors. Davis Square was their starting ground. The area already had cafés, storefronts, and plenty of Somerville apartments located above them. That gave the music a built-in audience. The sound carried out of the square and into nearby streets, echoing off brick three-deckers and wood-frame porches. Residential rentals around Davis Square were part of the story from the very beginning. This party didn’t start in a concert hall. It was born on sidewalks lined with housing, and that aspect has carried forward every year since.