Flash Mobs, Ukuleles & More: Make Music Day Returns This Week

The annual worldwide celebration of creativity and making music – Make Music Day – returns this Friday, 21 June.

With free live concerts hosted in person and online, artists and emerging musicians (and people who don’t play any music at all) perform across Australia for the global event taking place in over 750 cities in 120 countries.

In Australia, the big day is presented by the Australian Music Association and the NAMM Foundation.

Australian Music Association CEO and ARIA Award-winning artist Alex Masso commented in a statement:

“Music making is something that resonates with people from all walks of life, all over the world. We think there should be a day to celebrate the way music-making brings us together and gives us an outlet for expression, connection, and so much else.”

Masso added, “We know that professional musicians left the industry due to the challenges of the pandemic, but the interest in making music remains strong in the community at about 17% of the population.

“We saw a spike in sales of instruments such as guitars during the pandemic. It’s something that people turn to for fun, for a challenge and for creative expression, and there are endless opportunities for musical expression, from creating something by yourself at home to playing with a band or orchestra, singing in a choir, or going along to a jam session.”

Launched in 1982 as Fête de la Musique in France, Make Music Day has become a global celebration of music that displays solidarity with hard-working artists trying to exist in a competitive, expensive ecosystem. The day will showcase people singing in choirs, playing guitars and ukuleles, banging flowerpots, and more – all to make some noise.

You can find a list of selected exciting events below, and find more information on what’s happening this Friday here.

MAKE MUSIC DAY AUSTRALIA 2024

SELECTED EVENTS – FRIDAY 21 JUNE 

CITY CONCERTS 

Challis Singers at Gordon Library (Gordon, NSW)

Make Music Day Celebration at Bernie’s Music Land (Ringwood, VIC)

Jazzscape Trio at Paddington Library and Woollahra Library

Winter Concert – Music for Canberra Orchestras (Canberra, ACT)

CITY – OUTDOORS 

Make Music Day Parramatta – Best of the West (Parramatta, NSW)

CITY – PARTICIPATE

Sing Australia Gordon (Gordon, NSW)

REGIONAL – CONCERTS 

Make Music Day ORC (Orange, NSW)

Groove is in the Heart (Margaret River, WA)

WollCon Voices Sing! (Wollongong, NSW)

REGIONAL – PARTICIPATE 

Cobar Seniors’ Singalong (Cobar, NSW)

Make Music Day at Kitten Vintage (Mackay, QLD)

Music Mayhem (Dalyston, VIC)

Make Curious Music (Wagga Wagga, NSW)

Open Floor Jam with Two Up Music Show (Shorncliffe, QLD)

REGIONAL – OUTDOORS 

Make Music Day Clarence Valley (Grafton, NSW)

Impromptu Singing (Clare, SA)

Uke by the Beach (Newcastle, NSW)

The Other “Lithgow Flash” Mob (Lithgow, NSW)

SCHOOLS

Grovedale College

NBSC Cromer Campus

St Xavier’s Gunnedah