The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day, or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborhoods or in public spaces and parks. Free concerts are also organized, where musicians play for fun and not for payment. The first all-day musical celebration on the day of the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

was originated by Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as well as by Maurice Fleuret; it was celebrated in Paris in 1982. Music Day later became celebrated in 120 countries around the world.

History

In October 1981, Maurice Fleuret became Director of Music and Dance at the French Ministry of Culture at Jack Lang's request. He applied his reflections to the musical practice and its evolution: "the music everywhere and the concert nowhere". When he discovered, in a 1982 study on the cultural habits of the French, that five million people, one young person out of two, played a musical instrument, he began to dream of a way to bring people out on the streets. It first took place in 1982 in Paris as the Fête de la Musique. Ever since, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 700 cities in 120 countries, including India, Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, the United States, the UK, and Japan. In the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

, the day has become known as Music Day, Make Music Day and World Music Day.

Purpose

Fête de la Musique's purpose is to promote music. Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets, under the slogan ''"Faites de la musique"'' ("Make music"), a homophone of ''Fête de la musique''. Thousands of free concerts are staged throughout the day, making all genres of music accessible to the public. In France, all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time free of charge. This is true of most participating cities as well.

In France

Despite there being a large tolerance by the general public about the performance of music by amateurs in public areas after the usual hours, noise restrictions still apply and can cause some establishments to be forbidden to remain open and broadcast music out of their doors without prior authorization. This means that the prefectures in France can still forbid individuals, groups, or establishments to install any audio hardware in the street.

Reach and impact

there were 120 countries participating in Fête de la Musique, and over 1,000 cities participated across the world in that year. In 2023, events were held on most continents. Italy's ''Festa della Musica'' began in 1985, and became national in 1994. The UK Event began as National Music Day in 1992. Make Music Day UK became an independent organization in 2022.

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

has held the event in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

since 2013, and it has continued despite the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In the United States, the Make Music Alliance was formed in 2014 to help coordinate efforts across the country. In 2023 there were 4,791 free concerts held across 117 U.S. cities, with over 100 in

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, Madison,

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, and Salem. In Australia, Make Music Day Australia was initiated in 2018 by the Australian Music Association (AMA), and as of 2022 was co-hosted by the AMA and National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). In 2023, a huge international project called "Make Music, Make Friends" partnered 10 Australian schools with schools around the world to share music and greet one another on Make Music Day. Turkiye and Ghana held their first Make Music Days in 2022, and South Africa in 2023.

References

External links