PRONK! 2022 SEASON 

All below programs in the 2022 PRONK! season are free to attend for all ages

LAND AND LIBERATION

Black and brown experiences of outdoor recreation: an environmental art exhibit

Oct 8: 1-4pm

Location: MEO Lodge - 518 Gilbert Stuart Rd, Saunderstown, RI 02874

WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING CLASS

Mande Djembe Circle for all ages with Sidy Maiga

Oct 10: 11am

Location: Dexter Park - 73 Dexter Street, Providence, RI 02907

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY CELEBRATION

A celebration of indigenous music, activism, heritage with our PRONK! + HONK! family of musicians + artists + activists

Oct 10: 11-7pm

Location: Dexter Park - 73 Dexter Street, Providence, RI 02907

PRONK AFTER PARTY

Live Music + Dancing + Fun

Oct 10: 7pm - Late Night

Location: CRIB PVD - 1070 N Main St, Providence, RI 02906

BUY OUR 2022 T-SHIRT


100% OF SALES will provide free culturally relevant music lessons to the next generation of PRONK! activists!

BUY OUR 2021 T-SHIRT


100% OF SALES will provide free culturally relevant music lessons to the next generation of PRONK! activists!

PRESS RELEASE

ANNOUNCING THE 15TH ANNUAL PROVIDENCE HONK FESTIVAL (PRONK!) JUSTICE + COMMUNITY + ART + ACTIVIST BRASS BAND & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL IN PROVIDENCE


PROVIDENCE, RI (September 1, 2022) - This year, PRONK! 2022 is hosting a series of PRONK! CELEBRATIONS in October that centers justice-centered music, art, and activism led by Black People, Indigenous People & other People of Color. After two years of hosting smaller, more intimate creative activism events sprinkled across PRONK! season, we want to return to the nostalgia of a big outdoor celebration of creative justice and community! 
PRONK! 2022's culminating event will be an Indigenous People's Day Celebration in the heart of the West End Neighborhood in Dexter Park adjoining the Cranston Street Armory located at 73 Dexter Street, Providence, RI 02907. 
For this Indigenous People's Day Celebration on October 10, in addition to inviting our favorite local activist music ensembles, like The Eastern Medicine Singers, The Blackout Drum Squad, Undertow Brass Band (fka What Cheer? Brigade), The Providence Drum Troupe, & The Extraordinary Rendition Band, we are also thrilled to be hosting three HONK! touring bands: The Young Fellaz Brass Band (New Orleans), Rim Bam Bum (Chile), and The Elgon Youth Brass Band (Uganda)! For this special day, we will also be hosting performances by Indigenous Artists, Musicians, as well as Cultural Legacies & Lineages. PRONK! 2022 Season (Free)
  • Oct 10: 11am - Family West African Drumming Class - Dexter Park (73 Dexter St.)
  • Oct 10: 11-7pm - Indigenous People's Day Celebration - Dexter Park (73 Dexter St.)
  • Oct 10: 7-Late Night - Official PRONK! After Party - Crib PVD (1070 N Main St,)

For the most up-to-date information about PRONK! dates + registration + community info, visit www.pronkfest.org. 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, Transforming the Racist National Monument dedicated to Esek Hopkins, Commander of the slavery ship “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.  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 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 more local BIPOC artists/curators to avoid burnout among our small group of dedicated organizers.
  • 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. 
  • We are reducing alcohol services at PRONK! day-time events due to years of complaints, issues and violence linked to alcohol consumption - PRONK! is not just a party. PRONK! is about justice. 
 Our hope is for PRONK! 2022 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 PRONK! 2022 will encourage us all to engage in internal justice, decolonization and anti-oppression practices as well as with our bandmates, peers, colleagues, communities, and institutions. We look forward to continuing to dismantle + create change with you!   With Love,2022 PRONK! Committee