The DAAC

One week from today (June 21) we'll be celebrating Make Music Day at Fish Ladder Park in Grand Rapids!

What is Make Music Day?

It all started 44 years ago in France.

In 1982, France’s 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 each 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: the country shuts down on the summer solstice and musicians take over. Almost 11% of French people (7 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.

Four decades later, the holiday has spread throughout the world and is now celebrated in more than 2,000 cities across dozens of countries.

How did it come to the U.S.?

Twenty years ago, the Fête de la Musique crossed the Atlantic with the debut of Make Music New York.

Starting as a grassroots initiative by a team of volunteers, the event quickly became a critical and popular success. Today, thousands of New York musicians – amateurs and professionals, of all ages and musical persuasions – perform in hundreds of free, outdoor concerts each June 21, earning praise for their “inspiring” (New York Times) and “thrilling” (New Yorker) performances.

In recent years, cities across the country have launched their own Make Music celebrations on June 21, making this musical holiday a truly national phenomenon.