The third nationwide Make Music Winter celebration will take place on December 21st! Like Make Music Day on June 21, Make Music Winter is a free, outdoor, participatory musical event that turns audiences into music makers. Since 2011, it has been organized in New York City with over a dozen musical parades each December 21 – the shortest day of the year – and nearly 40 cities joined the party in 2019. This year, join a parade near you, or start up one of your own! It is a wonderful way to celebrate music making and stay warm during the winter.
After years of spontaneous musical merriment on June 21, the spirit of Make Music Day has come to visit on December 21, the winter solstice.
For Make Music Winter, music can pop up anywhere. Rounding the corner, you may see a herd of electric guitarists, a choir of medieval singers, or a percussive Puerto Rican parranda coming down the street. Ingenious musical parades for iPhones, hand bells, bicycles, trombones, and boomboxes have delighted audiences since New York City began celebrating Make Music Winter in 2011.
Whatever your wintertime musical dreams, anything is possible. And all of it is free, joyful, and profoundly participatory. Please complete this short form to register an event for Make Music Winter 2020.
Make Music Winter is presented by The NAMM Foundation.
Generally, yes – they are mobile, participatory events. Unlike a traditional parade, most Make Music Winter events stay on the sidewalks. Some march through a park or along an elevated rail line, or ride on bicycles, or take place on train cars and platforms. However you do it, being mobile brings music throughout your city, and helps you stay warm in the winter weather.
Make Music Winter events are also participatory. This means that everyone is invited to be part of the music-making, whether by singing, playing an instrument, tap dancing, carrying a boombox, or whatever the event calls for.
That’s great to hear! Start by reading through the handbooks to learn how five successful Make Music Winter events have been organized in the past. You are welcome to replicate these events, use them as jumping off points, or to come up with something completely new.
Whatever you decide, get in touch with us by email at matt@makemusicday.org and let us know what you are planning. We can give advice, answer questions, and include your event on our website and in our national PR campaign for Make Music Winter.
These step-by-step handbooks explain how to produce five of the most popular Make Music Winter events. Use the handbooks to bring these parades to your city, or as inspiration for your own creative winter ideas! We kindly request that all participants follow safe social distancing practices and abide by local, city, and state guidelines pertaining to COVID-19.
Download the Make Music Winter logo in a variety of formats (.ai, .eps, .pdf, and .png).
Use these images on your website or social media to promote your Make Music Winter event across your city, at your venue, or to your followers! Each version comes pre-formatted for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, along with a large-scale web banner.
Press Releases: Make Music Winter Announces Complete Schedule for December 21, December 2, 2020
Make Music Winter Returns on December 21, October 20, 2020
Press Releases: Make Music Winter Announces Updated Schedule For Nationwide Celebration, December 4, 2019
Make Music Winter Returns Nationwide On Saturday, December 21st, October 29, 2019
Press Release: Make Music Winter 2017 Announces Full Schedule, December 5, 2017
“Sprawling Across New York, a Solstice Music Marathon,” by Zachary Woolfe, Anthony Tommasini, Joshua Barone, and James R. Oestreich, New York Times, December 22, 2017
“New York Today: The Year in (Good) News,” by Jonathan Wolfe, New York Times, December 21, 2017
“‘Making music in Montclair’ to open winter,” by Ricardo Kaulessar, NorthJersey.com, December 19, 2017
“Performers Make Music In The Streets,” NY1 News, December 21, 2017
“8 festive things to do in NYC on Christmas weekend,” by T. Michelle Murphy, Metro New York, December 21, 2017
“The five best free things to do in NYC this week,” Time Out New York, December 20, 2017
“Editor’s Arts and Culture Picks Monday–Wednesday (Dec. 18–20),” Flavorpill, December 18, 2017
“What to Do in New York This December: Tree Lighting Skate-tacular & Hip Hop Nutcracker,” by Katherine Martinelli, AFAR, November 29, 2017
“18 great things to do this weekend,” Staten Island Advance, December 19, 2017
“11 epic things to do with kids before the New Year!,” by Allie Early, Time Out New York Kids, November 21, 2017
“Best Things to Do with NYC Kids: December GoList,” by Maureen Dempsey, Mommy Poppins, November 26, 2017
“Take part in a jazz parade through Kew Gardens during Make Music Winter on Dec. 21,” by Emily Davenport, QNS.com, December 14, 2017
“Five things to do in Brooklyn, Dec. 15–21,” Brooklyn Paper, December 15, 2017
“Winter Music Events Brighten Up Tomorrow’s Solstice,” by Paul Stremple, Bklyner, December 20, 2017
“Thursday: Put On Your Headlamps and Make a Singing Pilgrimage Through Riverside Park,” West Side Rag, December 19, 2017