Make Music Australia – Join the worldwide celebration of music on June 21!

Make Music Day is a free celebration of music making around the world on June 21st.

Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held on the same day in more than 750 cities in 120 countries.

Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music Day is open to anyone who wants to take part. It’s a DIY Music Festival! Every kind of musician — young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion — can organise their own gig, or join the many organisations that will host events, to share their music with friends, neighbours, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public.
Be a part of Make Music Day!

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About

Make Music Day has grown as a global celebration of music making across more that 1000 cities around the world.

It all started 38 years ago in France. In 1982, Jack Lang and his staff at the Ministry of Culture dreamed up an idea for a new kind of musical holiday. They imagined a day where FREE music would be everywhere, all around the city: street corners, parks, rooftops, gardens, and store fronts.

And, unlike a typical music festival, anyone and everyone would be invited to join and play music, or host performances.

The event would take place on the summer solstice, June 21, and would be called Fête De La Musique. (In French, the name means both “festival of music” and “make music”.)

Amazingly enough, this dream has come true. The Fête has turned into a true national holiday: Paris shuts down on the summer solstice and musicians take over. Almost 8% of the country (5 million people) have played an instrument or sung in public for the Fête de la Musique, and 64% of the country (43 million people) comes out each year to listen.

Three decades later, the holiday has spread throughout the world and is now celebrated in more than 800 cities in 120 different countries.

Make Music Day Australia began in 2018 with the funding and resources of the Australian Music Association (AMA), via its partner the NAMM Foundation (US based). The event saw over 100 events in 80 locations register an event on the Make Music Day Australia website. These numbers were doubled in 2019 and the program of events was truly national. We embark on Make Music Australia 2020 with the vision of going even bigger!

We are now working to progress the Make Music Day Australia program and build greater awareness of the initiative on a national level.

Each year we aim to develop an events program created by a community of music makers all over Australia. We also host social media to build community awareness of the program and the opportunities provided for making music.

Website Support & unique URL’s for particular events of scale can be accessed as a resource for bigger organisations wanting to host Make Music Day events.

Take part in this amazing adventure

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Participate

How to Make Music on June 21?

A downloadable tool kit is available in the RESOURCES section of the site. It guidance and ideas on how to participate in Make Music Day 2019

You can create your own Make Music event where you live!
You can create your own Make Music Day event at your school!
You could be a community music club or group, that could promote a big annual event among its members
Contact your local council and ask can you have a spot to play? Parks, Plazas, and Shopping Centres
Join an existing community event and add to the numbers
You could be a government or industry organisation seeking to present a larger-scale Make Music celebration in your city, shire or town. Please email rob.walker@australianmusic.asn.au to discuss the resources needed and how the AMA can assist you to promote your event.

WHEN YOU HAVE DECIDED ON AN EVENT YOU CAN REGISTER IT HERE

Schedule

All Make Music concerts are free and open to the public.

Make Music Day will coordinate a national online program of events as advised by hosts.

Why Make Music Day? Why Participate? Performance!

Participation is open to musicians of all levels. Over the coming months will help the community learn how to stage a Make Music Day event.

Participation can be developed at many levels, state & local government, community organisations, chambers of commerce, music clubs and schools

Thousands of amateur musicians, of all ages and genres, play for some of the biggest crowds of their lives and some play in front of people for the first time. Everyone can experience the joy of performing, even those without the skills or connections to find gigs in regular venues.
Professional artists and presenters showcase their music to a new audience, reaching people who would never normally hear their work.
Schools can reach out to the community and celebrate Make Music Day while the community rejoice in the rich talent in our schools.
Participants feel part of a larger musical community, and the freedom to wander around and improvise with each other. For most musicians, it will be unlike any other musical experience they have had.
Listeners can come out from under their headphones and experience live music up close. Audiences feel no pressure to stay if they don’t like a particular band; with no money spent and no walls holding them in, they can wander to discover unfamiliar genres and groups risk-free.
Local business districts attract customers by hosting musicians in front of shops and restaurants.
For neighbours, it’s a chance to turn ordinary sidewalks and streets into impromptu stages, dance floors, and social meeting points, and bring their community together.
For the city as a whole, it’s a way to attract tourists from other parts of the region to come experience the city’s cultural richness.
Through the Council’s events, economic development and Arts & Culture programs, municipal councils can, by providing space and communications, encourage the community to come together in a making music project that joins the Global event that is Make Music Day