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Make Music New York is returning to the city on June 21, the first day of summer, for its 11th year. Again, the fest will feature another dizzying onslaught of free concerts: more than 1,000 this time around. From a 100-band punk festival to an ancestral Taino solstice ritual to avant-garde classical concerts, this musical celebration—which will take place across all five boroughs—features something for everyone.
The fest is the flagship event of Make Music Day—which is celebrated in more than 50 U.S. cities with support from the NAMM Foundation—and a highlight of the international Fête de la Musique, which takes place in 750 cities across 120 countries.
Unlike ordinary music festivals, anyone can host an event for Make Music Day, all of which is free and open to the public. Here in New York, any musician—and that means any musician, amateurs and professionals alike—is invited to sign up at the official website. Registration ends on May 12. A full schedule of events, starting times and locations will be posted on the site on May 15.
Highlights of the festival include: a Drum-Off Contest with celebrity judges hosted by the internationally renowned Blue Man Group; Punk Island, a punk festival featuring over 100 local bands playing sets throughout the day at Randalls Island; a mobile Ella Fitzgerald Piano Bar roaming the streets of Harlem to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the singer’s birth; and Porch Stomp, an Americana festival focusing on bluegrass, folk and roots music.