Make Music Alliance

Make Music Day is the international celebration of music held annually on June 21 (the summer solstice). Unlike a traditional festival, Make Music Day encourages everyone to pour onto the streets to make or experience music, regardless of skill level, formal training, or genre.

Rooted in France’s “Fête de la Musique,” this unique celebration made its US debut in New York City in 2007, and soon spread to a handful of other US cities like Nashville and Chicago. This small group of celebrants then formed the Make Music Alliance in 2014 to recruit and support Make Music Day organizers throughout the US. Since then, the Alliance has grown to include over 140 “chapter” cities and counties in every corner of the country, including 6 in New Jersey.

In 2024, our chapters organized over 5,300 free musical events on June 21. The Alliance supports these individual chapters by providing websites, software to match venues and musicians, free musical instruments, PR, coaching, a host of national programs to enhance chapters’ own local events, guidance on obtaining permits and government approval, and a vast network of like-minded community organizers with a shared love for bringing music to the public.

Chapters enjoy complete programmatic autonomy, except that all events must be free, accessible, open to the public, and take place on June 21.