CLICK HERE to support our historical intervention at the former home of Esek Hopkins, commander of the slaveship Sally: 1) DONATE to The Haus of Glitter's GOFUNDME; 2) SIGN OUR PETITION to reinterpret + transform 3 memorials to Esek Hopkins: the house + park, the middle school, & the statue; 3) SPREAD THE WORD to family, friends and other allies!

CLICK HERE to order our PRONK! 2021 T-Shirt // Tank // Sweatshirt for our #NextGenPronk Fundraiser to bring free music classes to young artist + activists!

PRONK! 2021 SEASON

PRONK! 2021 SEASON PAST EVENTS

PRONK! 2021 COVID SAFETY

PRONK! 2021 PRESS RELEASE

ANNOUNCING THE 14TH ANNUAL PROVIDENCE HONK FESTIVAL (PRONK!) COMMUNITY + ART + ACTIVIST STREET BAND FESTIVAL IN PROVIDENCE

PROVIDENCE, RI (September 1, 2021) - This year, PRONK! 2021 is shifting focus a bit, due to COVID-19 safety requirements and new vision/goals for the festival. Instead of hosting 1 major blowout multi-brass band festival on Indigenous Peoples' Day, we are hosting a series of PRONK! CELEBRATIONS in Sept-Oct that center BIPOC artists, activists, musicians and community members. While our covid-model for PRONK! 2021 will not allow us to host or book as many bands as we have in the past, we will be able to book a small number of local activist brass bands + percussion ensembles for our RONK! Season and ALL local musicians are invited to attend our full season of PRONK! CELEBRATIONS! This year, PRONK! is proud to continue our werk in allyship with The Haus of Glitter's historical intervention at the former home of Esek Hopkins, Commander of the Slaveship "Sally" -- The Haus of Glitter + Glitter Goddess Collective has been collaborating with PRONK! as volunteers + organizers + activists + immersive multi-disciplinary artists + creative decolonization strategists since 2013!

PRONK! 2021 Season

• Sept 3 - PRONK! Kick-Off Procession

• Sept 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 + 17 - “The Historical Fantasy of Esek Hopkins: An Activist Dance Opera” by The Haus of Glitter Dance Company

• Oct 6 + 7 - “Futureworlds: Amerikkka Better Have My Money” by AS220 Youth

• Oct 16 - “Hues: A Poetry Picnic” Curated by The Park Studios PVD

For the most up-to-date information about PRONK! dates + registration + community info, visit www.providencehonkfest.org. All events in the PRONK! 2021 Season will feature local activist brass bands + percussion ensembles as well as community activist groups and local BIPOC artists!

For the past decade, PRONK! has been working to solidify our mission as an "activist festival." We have rallied behind causes (ie Community Safety Act, PSU's Student Bill of Rights, Historical Interventions at The Memorials to Esek Hopkins, Commander of the slaveship “Sally”); We've supported activist organizations (DARE, PrYSM, YIA, EFA, etc); We've attempted to bring community attention to decolonization work (ie Land Acknowledgement and Indigenous Ceremony at Ribbon Cutting for the Michael Van Leesten Memorial Pedestrian Bridge). That said, we recognize that our festival was founded by white people, typically features majority white bands, and often has a largely white crowd. Over the past years we've been shifting the focus of the festival to center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. PRONK! 2020 was our first 100% BIPOC-led PRONK! Season to pilot our covid-conscious model and it was a huge success -- you can read more about it and see photo highlights at www.providencehonkfest.org

What exactly does this mean?

• We've changed our organizational structure so that the PRONK! Committee is 100% led by BIPOC organizers. Former white committee members have shifted into support roles.

• We've put the majority of our funds into hiring BIPOC artists, musicians, organizations, caterers, nonprofits, etc.

• We are using internal Community Safety staff + no longer need to hire police

• We've moved the majority of our events from the Eastside to historically BIPoC neighborhoods (Chad Brown area for 2020 + 2021) and plan to continue moving PRONK! around town to connect a more diverse neighborhood and community population

• We are working with local BIPOC artists/curators to host mini events as to avoid burnout among our small group of dedicated organizers (ie The Park Studios PVD, Haus of Glitter, AS220 Youth, Haus of Codec)

• We are expanding the musical identity of the festival beyond exclusively brass band music to also include genres that are culturally-relevant to youth and communities representing the Global majority of Providence.

PRONK! is changing and there are things we'll miss about the past format for the festival. We have loved all the bands and supporters who have celebrated, rallied, taken the streets with us over the past several years and we don't intend to cut ties. We also can't wait for covid to allow more huge parties for a cause because those are fun too! We want PRONK! season to be more inclusive and intentional and look forward to continuing our work with activist bands who have participated in PRONK! in past years. We have no desire to isolate the festival from previous attendees. All are still welcome. That said, we are not organizing our festival around the needs/desires of majority-white bands + activism. Decolonization is not a buzzword, it is a radical act that requires massive reallocation of resources, restructuring of organizations and decentering of whiteness to put BIPOC at the forefront. Our hope is for PRONK! 2021 to feel like a celebration of how far we’ve come and how far we aim to push towards collective justice and liberation. We need music and art to get there. We are so excited to bring more music and art to even more people in this new chapter!

We hope that our shifted focus to Decolonize PRONK! will encourage us all to engage in internal decolonization practices and anti-racism work with our bandmates, peers, communities, institutions. We are grateful for all you have given to our festival and the people of Providence and we look forward to continuing to dismantle + create change with you.

PRONK! 2021 Curators + Sponsors

• The Haus of Glitter Dance Company

• The Park Studios PVD

• The Haus of Codec

• AS220 + AS220 Youth

• Providence Tourism Council

• RI State Council for the Arts

• The What Cheer Art Company

• Providence Parks Department

• Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism

With Love,

2021 PRONK! Committee