(Our first, as-it-happened HONK Fest West report can be seen here)
That photo shared by Eileen captures the brassy boisterousness of HONK Fest West, making its first West Seattle appearance, with bands spread along two blocks of The Junction in a five-hour-plus period this afternoon. So does this clip, in which we follow the Hubbub Club as its musicians “march” (more like danced, bounced, strode) their way from the designated performance area by the Junction Wells Fargo, to the SW Alaska sidewalk, then back:
And a serious dose of dancing-in-the-streets ensued in the raised crosswalk between Oregon and Alaska – where we found the Carnival Band during our 2nd HONK Fest visit, at midafternoon:
If you didn’t get a close-enough look at the Hubbub Club’s grinning tuba in our clip, Luckie‘s photo captures it for posterity:
And even the little ones were entranced by the splendor of the costumes as well as the music – witness Holli‘s photo of the Minor Mishap Marching Band (visiting from Austin, Texas):
So will this lovably loony street festival return next year? We’ve got the question out to organizers, though they may well be getting ready to recover after 3 days around town (Fremont on Friday, Georgetown on Saturday, then West Seattle today, plus a few bands’ performances in venues elsewhere tonight). Meantime, here’s the official festival website; here’s its Facebook page; and here’s a site where they’re encouraging people to upload photos. The whole thing runs on volunteer power and donations, as carts like this one reminded festivalgoers in The Junction today:
If you didn’t have any cash to throw in the kitty while you were enjoying the show(s), you can make an online donation here. P.S. Added Monday, one last shot from Colby – seems there wasn’t just dancing in the streets, there was a little bit of lying around in the streets too:
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