On December 21, thousands took to the streets to celebrate the holidays through music and community, with boombox parades, ukulele jams, caroling, bell-ringing, bluegrass, and much more.

Many thanks to our partners at Rhythm Band Instruments, Vic Firth, and Flight Ukuleles for generously supplying winter instruments in nine cities.

And thanks to everyone who came out to make music with us!

National
“Music Will Resound Outdoors In 10 States For The Winter Solstice,” by Gary Stoller, Forbes, December 3, 2025

Chattanooga, TN
“Make Music Winter Brings The City’s Vibrant Music Scene To Life,” Chattanooga Pulse, November 20, 2025
“Explore Chattanooga Musically With Make Music Winter’s CHA Music Passport,” Chattanooga Pulse, December 2, 2025
“Make Music Winter Chattanooga Is Back,” Chattanoogan.com, December 11, 2025
“Songs For All In Chattanooga As Make Music Winter Returns,” by Ray Bassett, Scenic Roots: WUTC, January 5, 2026

Denver, CO
“Things To Do In And Around Denver This Weekend – 12/17-12/21,” by Sarah Fisher, 303 Magazine, December 18, 2025
“‘Make Music Day’ concert celebration taking place at Union Station,” News 9 NBC (Denver), December 19, 2025
“Things to do in Denver this weekend, Dec. 19-21,” by Cassidy Ritter, Denverite, December 19, 2025

Fairfield, CT
“Make Music Fairfield Hosts ‘Solstice Stroll’ This Weekend,” by Alfred Branch, Patch Connecticut, December 17, 2025

Gig Harbor, WA
“Holiday Happenings | ‘Tis the season. Here’s how to celebrate in Gig Harbor,” by Charlee Glock-Jackson, Gig Harbor Now, November 28, 2025

Montclair, NJ
“Make Music Winter 2025 to Bring Music to Three Montclair Venues,” by Georgette Gilmore, Montclair Local, December 13, 2025

New York, NY
“Winter Solstice Parade Set to Fill Flatbush Avenue With Old-Time Tunes and Dance,” BK Reader, December 12, 2025
“Free kid-friendly events this week in Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Bridge Parents, December 14, 2025
“Make Music, Hanukkah, and More Things To Do in NYC this Weekend with Kids,” by Drew Kristofik, Mommy Poppins, December 17, 2025
“What’s Free to do in New York, the Week of December 19-21,” by Ashley Simpo, Okayplayer, December 19, 2025
“Ringing in the season: ‘Bell by Bell’ in East Village lets everyone jingle all the way,” by Bob Krasner, amNewYork, December 23, 2025
“A ghostly parade for long-lost local music venues,” by Stacie Joy, EV Grieve, December 26, 2025
“Is that a tuba in aisle 3? Renegade brass band performs in bygone Lower East Side landmarks,” by Hannah Frishberg, Gothamist, January 5, 2026

Oakland, CA
“Winter Solstice 2025 celebrations across the Bay Area,” by Anne Schrager, San Francisco Chronicle, December 17, 2025

Salem, OR
“Make Music Salem brings caroling to downtown on Winter Solstice,” by Whitney Woodworth, Salem Statesman Journal, December 20, 2025

We are thrilled to announce this year’s lineup for Make Music Winter: 15 cities with over 40 free, participatory parades and performances on Sunday, December 21!

• Nine winter parades in New York NY take over the city’s most iconic locations, from an immersive soundwalk on The High Line to a Hallelujah chorus at Grand Central, and from a parranda in the Bronx to an Appalachian flat-footing parade in Brooklyn.
   
• Chattanooga TN uses a passport to guide participants through the city’s musical landscape, from Christmas music at five churches to a titillating “pole ballet” at Scenic City Burlesque.
   
• Montclair NJ celebrates the season with Phil Kline’s classic boombox parade Unsilent Night, and a participatory jam of protest songs called The World Turned Upside Down
   
• Salem OR‘s “Yule Make Music” features an afternoon bell parade with holiday songs, Holiday Trivia with live musicians performing some of the clues, and a downtown band showcase.
   
• Rhythm Band Instruments partners for the sixth year, providing free hand bells and hand percussion for events in Germantown (TN), Macon (GA), Muskogee (OK), and New York (NY).
   
• And Slovenia’s Flight Ukulele joins Make Music Winter for the second year, donating ukuleles for events in Big Bear (CA) and Ossining (NY).
   

Of course there is much more, from pop-up jam parades to musical bar crawls to open mics. Visit makemusicwinter.org for the complete schedule!

The renowned naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough turns 100 next year. To mark the occasion, British composer Pete Wyer – along with colleagues Brian Eno and Pete Townshend – is organizing a birthday concert on May 9, 2026 for singers everywhere to join, with a new choral work on environmental themes called Natural World. 

Participants are invited to join a “synchronized headphone choir” (a genre that Wyer has pioneered for Make Music Day), or submit a video in advance.

If you are interested in joining, as an individual or a choir, click here for details!

As 2025 comes to an end, we are thankful for all the supporters and partners who have made this a record-breaking year for Make Music Day.

• On June 21, 2025, Make Music Day featured over 5,471 concerts in the U.S., an all-time high, across 147 cities from coast to coast.
• The Make Music Alliance provided participants with 1,260 pairs of drumsticks, 80 pairs of mallets, 120 ukuleles, and 2,340 hand percussion instruments – all for free, so that anyone could participate.
• Roughly half a million people joined as performers, audience members, teachers and students.
• And thousands more concerts took place in Australia, Brazil, China, Cyprus, Ghana, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, and the UK, in events all established through the Make Music Alliance.

While political forces pull communities and countries apart, Make Music Day continues to bring people together, across the ocean or across the street, to create connections and spread joy.

If you have enjoyed Make Music Day in any way – as a performer, host, or listener – or just love the concept, we invite you support the Make Music Alliance, the nonprofit organization that brings this celebration to the world.

Please consider a contribution to keep it going into 2026! Any amount, large or small, is very much appreciated.

Make Music Winter returns on Sunday December 21, with joyful, mobile events across the country that turn audiences into music-makers.

Stay tuned for the full schedule announcement on December 1!

Nearly 100,000 Americans die each year from drug overdoses – and every one of them had a favorite song, a favorite band, a favorite t-shirt.

This coming year, Musicians for Overdose Prevention is inviting bands, venues, and festivals around the country to host “100,000 T-Shirt Memorial” events. Fans bring a music t-shirt in honor of someone lost to overdose, and MOP will send the venue free naloxone (the overdose reversal medication) to distribute during the show, and help promote your event to local media.

Email John Kennedy at 505050john@gmail.com if you’d like to host a T-shirt memorial event. To order free naloxone for your tour or venue, fill out this form.

Oregon’s Make Music Salem celebrated its 10th year this June 21, with 252 performances at 68 locations – an astounding number for a city of 180,000!

Nearly every block downtown was filled with music – with teenage performers from the RiverCity Rock Star Academy, rock and punk bands from KMUZ, and a silent disco with five DJs at Riverfront Park – while nearly every genre was represented somewhere in the city. And in true Make Music Day fashion, beginning musicians could join in on a ukulele jam session, a harmonica giveaway, or a “found sound” instrument alley.

Make Music Salem was founded by small business owner Mark Green and his family. Over the years, Mark helped start up other Make Music events around Oregon, and joined the Make Music Alliance board to support the event’s national growth.

Tragically, Mark passed away in August. We are remembering Mark this year, and celebrating Make Music Salem as just one way his legacy of joyful community service lives on.

Make Music Day’s winter counterpart returns on Sunday, December 21!

Make Music Winter is a joyful, free outdoor musical festivity, celebrated since 2011 on the winter solstice, and reaching 20+ U.S. cities last year.

What makes Make Music Winter unique is its focus on musical parades that anyone can join, from a procession of strolling electric guitarists, to a roving mob of kazoo players. These mobile events create a memorable spectacle all over town, and keep participants warm when the weather is cold.

On December 21, Make Music Winter returns with mobile events that turn audiences into music-makers, organized through our network of Make Music chapters and free for all to join!

The full schedule will be announced in November. Stay tuned!