Jacob Foko

For 19 years, Baltimore’s “Hon” Festival has attracted big crowds in recognition and celebration of the community’s working women. Created in 1994 by Denise Whiting, the festival has become an established tradition. According to the HonFest website, this “family-friendly” annual event “Since 1994, HonFest has grown from a tiny Baltimore’s Best Hon pageant behind Café Hon, to a nationally recognized festival that covers four city blocks on Hampden’s very own 36th Street. In recent years, the festival has been acknowledged by The New York Times, Rachel Ray’s Tasty Travels, Nightly News with Brian Williams, The New York Post, Southern Living, The LA Times, HGTV, CNN, and The New Yorker… Each year, revelers from every corner of our city, region, and nation—not to mention from overseas—have come to Hampden to celebrate Baltimore heritage and experience what makes the town like no other.”