Celebrate Make Music Day on 21 June 2021

Hybrid of in-person and online events planned across the UK to mark the global, annual celebration of music! 

Make Music Day UK is delighted to announce a range of inclusive 2021 projects and events to celebrate the world’s biggest, grassroots DIY music festival, with zero barriers to participation and attendance. Thousands of free events will be taking place up and down the country to mark the global celebration, which takes place annually on 21 June.

Make Music Day is the UK’s largest single-day music festival, encouraging musicians, producers, promoters and music lovers to collaborate and organise in-person and online performances in their communities. Solo performers, groups and music creators of all types are invited to take part, regardless of age, ability or musical genre.

In addition to organising their own events for Make Music Day, musicians are invited to take part in one of the many projects. Following the unprecedented challenges of the past year, many of the projects planned for 2021 aim to support those most affected by the pandemic, with others encouraging global collaboration between cultures and communities across the world to celebrate our shared, universal language of music.

This year’s national and international projects include:

• Window Serenades – sharing the joy of live music with those in care homes
• MMD Schools – free resources and virtual events for school, in partnership with Durham Music and the Charanga platform
• MixMash Studios – international project with music makers and sound samplers coming together virtually to create new electronic music, in partnership with Plugged
• Global Folk Challenge – exchange of traditional and folk music with performers around the world
• John Cage 4’33’’ – international online premiere of the John Cage piece 4’33”, in partnership with Northern Irish peace-building initiative Beyond Skin and the John Cage Trust
• Make Music Day Anthem – record or perform this year’s official anthem, Stand by Me, with free sheet music available and a competition for best cover version, supported by Hal Leonard and Sony Music Publishing

Other ways to get involved include Doorstep Gigs, an international Drum Battle, contributing to the official Livestream Broadcast, and libraries can host a film premiere charting the rock ‘n’ roll gigs and misadventures of Get it Loud in libraries.

Barbara Eifler, Chair of Make Music Day UK, said:

“There are even more reasons to get involved in Make Music Day this year, when Covid-19 has shown us how much music can help and heal. As we look forward to a gradually post-pandemic world, celebrating Make Music Day seems a particularly fitting way of bringing our communities together again after months of isolation, pain and loss. Of course, it’s not yet all over – but the resilience of this celebration is that it can be online or offline and speak to millions of people, and also connect us to musicians just like us across the world.”

A range of free, comprehensive support is available to musicians and event organisers, including a suite of toolkits, Covid-19 rehearsing and performing guidelines, meetups and online workshops on topics from live streaming to publicity, and much more. All events can be listed on the Make Music Day UK website, where anyone can search for an event happening in their local area or online.

Since beginning as Fête de la Musique in France in 1982, Make Music Day has grown into a global phenomenon that takes place annually in 125 countries, always on 21 June. The event first came to the UK in 2012, and 2017 marked the first UK-wide, coordinated celebration with support and funding from national organisations, resulting in 147 performances. In 2020, despite the challenges of the pandemic and social distancing, 1,739 live and online performances took place across the UK, involving 11,162 performers who brought inspiring musical experiences to over 531,700 people.

Alongside the support of partner organisations and their combined networks, Make Music Day UK is proud to include as its ambassadors Nicola Benedetti CBE, Elin Manahan Thomas, Apollo5, Iona Fyfe, Emma McGann and Charlotte Hoather.