Last weekend sixteen street bands from all over the US converged on Austin for the second annual HONK!TX festival. Wikipedia describes street bands as “ambulatory, acoustic bands playing music in public spaces.” I would also add “…dressed in outlandish costumes and doing things with hula hoops.”
The first two days of HONK!TX took place up near the University of Texas, then the festival moved downtown for the final day. Bill and I watched the bands pass by on East Sixth Street. Minor Mishap Marching Band from Austin brought up the rear of the parade. (We became fans of this band.at last December’s Downtown Stroll,) Along with other bystanders, we followed the parade about six blocks over to Republic Square Park.
The Forward! Marching Band came in from Wisconsin for the festival. This group had excellent soloists…perhaps UW-Madison music majors?
Many bands featured hula hoopists and some were really quite talented. I guess majorettes are no longer fashionable?
I’m an Austin native now living in Sun City Georgetown. I love what you’re doing here. I write about Austin also, but mostly from a historical view. See http://christianbookmobile.blogspot.com/search/label/Austin.