HONfest is no more, according to an email Wednesday from Wendy Sites, HONfest vendor and logistics coordinator.
“For thirty years HONfest celebrated working women and showcased local artisans, food vendors, and musicians,” Sites wrote in her email. “However, those of use who work hard to make HONfest happen have decided to retire, and with that retirement comes the end of HONfest.”
Denise Whiting, owner of the former Cafe Hon, first held a “Baltimore Best Hon” pageant in 1994. Over the years, the event grew into an annual summertime festival, with attendees donning beehive hairdos, cat eye glasses, feather boas, pearl necklaces, and other “hon” accessories meant to hearken back to working class women of the 1950s and 1960s.
Though a yearly favorite for many Baltimore residents, the event drew criticism in 2023 when organizers denied a vendor spot to Planned Parenthood Maryland, citing the festival’s policy for prohibiting vendors related to “political, religious, and hot topic issues.”
“For 20 years, HONfest has brought smiles to young and old alike. HONfest has always had rules on their vendor form prohibiting ‘political, religious, and hot topic issues,'” HONfest organizers posted on Facebook in June 2023. “Since the overturning of the Roe V Wade decision, it has certainly become an issue which has led to some very unfortunate public incidences, and as such, it has become a ‘hot topic’.”
Planned Parenthood Maryland said HONfest organizers told them they could participate in the festival if they abided by a “gag rule.”
“Prohibiting us from mentioning birth control, abortion, gender affirming care and providing any information about family planning stigmatizes our care, and more importantly, the patients for whom we care,” Planned Parenthood Maryland officials said at the time.
The decision prompted supporters of Planned Parenthood Maryland to call for a boycott of HONfest. Existing HONfest vendors and Hampden businesses pledged their support by offering the reproductive healthcare nonprofit a spot at their vendor tables or comitting a percentage of their business’s sales to the organization. Other Baltimore festivals, such as Remfest and Lauraville Fair, invited the nonprofit to be part of their events.
Following the blowback from community members, HONfest organizers reversed their decision and invited Planned Parenthood Maryland to be part of the festival.
But for many the change of heart came too late. The nonprofit declined the invitation, but was still present in Hampden during the festival at Flaunt Hair Boutique.
Sites’ email message on Wednesday made no mention of the 2023 incident with Planned Parenthood Maryland.
The Baltimore Banner reported that Sites said the decision to end HONfest came as a result of the needs of the organizers’ aging parents as well as life changes.
“It was an amazing festival which brought joy to so many people for many years, and we couldn’t be more proud of what the festival brought to the city of Baltimore and the Hampden neighborhood,” Sites’ email read. “We could not have accomplished that without ALL OF YOU!”
Sites went on to thank the vendors who participated in the festival over the years.
“You, the vendors who have come to HONfest, are a spectial breed of people, kind, loving, and generous,” she said. “The hours you put into your work, the time you take to travel from festival to festival, and the kindeness you expressed when dealing with HONfest staff is a testament to the amazing humans you are. We will miss all of you, but what you brought to HONfest and to Baltimore will stay in our hearts for years to come.”
