Sunday, June 10, 2012

It's So Much Fun To Be A Hon

Hon: 1) a term of endearment derived from the word honey.
2) your friendly Baltimore woman from the late 1950's to early 1960's who is devoted to Elvis, loves leopard print, and has a pink flamingo or two in her front yard. She lives with one simple motto : "The Higher the Hair the Closer to God"
She is our Grandmother, our Mother, our neighbor, the friend you run into at Giant. She is our heritage. She is Bawlmer Hon!  

Every Year in June, for one weekend, one little street in downtown Baltimore erupts into a plume of pink feather boas, leopard print spandex and cat eye glasses. Hon Fest. The 2 day celebration that pays homage to the HON and everything Baltimore. A few years ago my cousins and I started getting dressed up to go to Hon Fest just for something fun. It has now become a holiday for us and every year more and more ladies join our hon pack.

The hours leading up to the group of us caravan down to Hampden is just a haze of hairspray, jewelry, and red lipstick (no wonder the husband has never accompanied me). Nothing is "too much" no hair can be "too big" and one can of aquanet will just not do.

Once we arrive, we manage to make a stir, that thing about strength in numbers proves true. We smack our gum and blow kisses and shout some "Hey Hons" for videographers and pose for photographers, both professional and not. People have even handed us their kids wanting to take pictures of us all adoring their clearly terrified children. And of course we do it. I mean why wouldn't we?

One of my cousins and myself ready to Hon.

My annual photo with Elvis


Between the craziness, we get the opportunity to really take in the festival. Sampling the food, grabbing a beer, and visiting the awesome stores along the Avenue. For me, the best part is perusing the super fun vendors that come out for Hon Fest year after year. I always find Baltimore crafters that I recognise and adore and each year I manage to discover new ones!

Some of the beautiful hair clips by one of my favorite
Baltimore Crafters, Kolleen Kilduff of
Design By Night
Check out her shop at www.designbynight.etsy.com
After admiring their work online for so long, I finally got
to meet the lovely ladies of Charms City Company
I am obsessed with these initial necklaces. Check
them out at
www.CharmCityCompany.com  
The bright, colorful baltimore inspired works of
Ramon Matheu. See his super fun work at
www.ramonmatheu.com



Be sure you check out Hon Fest's website at http://www.honfest.net/index.html and be sure you watch the adorable movie they have posted on their pagehttp://www.honfest.net/whatis.html . If you need your reminder for Hon Fest for next year, give the facebook page a like 
               http://www.facebook.com/pages/HONFEST/127828540567469                                        

To say that going down to Hon Fest is fun is an understatement to be sure. It is truly a celebration of Baltimore. All that it was and all that it is. Get it on your calendar for next year and come down and get your Hon on!

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