August in Texas: Bikes, Kites & Marching Bands

After flying our kites at Zilker a couple Sundays back (the week after the kite festival) we happened to bike by a bunch of marching bands playing at a grassy median downtown. It was the beginning of the whole SXSW week and this exhibition, while not an official part of SXSW, was a nice added bonus (as finding tickets to any event that isn't packed or late at night is next to impossible). These were all adults and the bands were mostly tongue-in-cheek, punk free-form. They had so much energy and the day was beautiful, we really had no choice but to join in and dance with them right there in the median.

The festival was called Honk! TX and we were able to catch two great bands, the Minor Mishap Marching Band from Austin and a band from Massachusetts called Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band. They were both amazing but I really liked Minor Mishap a lot. Maybe it was their yellow and black tights, but they just made me happy.