Music and soccer, beyond the vuvuzela
As North American cities prepare to host players and fans from around the globe for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Make Music Day chapters are bringing music to soccer venues, and highlighting the countries competing in this year’s tournament.
If you are in Houston, Kansas City, New York, San Jose, or Santa Monica on June 21, join the World Cup excitement at one of these special Make Music Day events.
Houston, TX
Make Music Houston will kick off the 2026 celebration at the Toros HTX Soccer Facility (2202 Summer Street), with musical performances all day starting at 11:30am.
Guests can join watch parties across the Greater Houston area for scheduled Group G & H matches, enjoy food and drinks, and celebrate the vibrant music community!
Kansas City, MO
Kansas City’s FIFA Fan Festival on June 21 will serve as a major hub for Make Music Kansas City. With a free general admission pass, fans on the south lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial will enjoy live music from local artists Charlie Castillo (11am), Beth and Brandon (12pm), and Nneoma Lanea (12:30pm).
And on the way to and from the Fan Festival, catch the Make Music Troubadours, the fabulous Sass-a-Brass Band, up and down the streetcar line on Make Music Day! Sass-a-Brass is Kansas City’s only queer street parade brass band, bringing the party with a high-energy mix of HONK!-style activist street band spirit and the vibrant traditions of New Orleans Mardi Gras and second-line parades. Hop on for a ride from the City Market to the Country Club Plaza and catch performances at participating Make Music Day streetcar stops along the way!
New York, NY
Make Music New York puts the “World” in “World Cup” with a series of free concerts featuring music from many of the 48 participating countries in this year’s tournament.
These concerts will take place in public plazas and parks alongside the MTA’s 7 Train line in Queens, known as the “International Express” for the highly distinctive neighborhoods along its route. Concerts are being planned for Lippman Plaza and Flushing Meadows (Flushing), Corona Plaza (Corona), Diversity Plaza (Jackson Heights), Lowery Plaza and Bliss Plaza (Sunnyside), and Hunter’s Point Park South and 46th Avenue Plaza (LIC). Performers confirmed to date include the Prinkipo Ensemble, MORE Opera, Percussia, and HONK NYC.
San Jose, CA
In honor of Paraguay, whose team will compete in San Jose on June 19th, Make Music San Jose is hosting a special World Cup / SJ26 stage with a fútbol-themed fiesta led by Los Panaderos at the Parque de los Pobladores (510 S 1st St).
Taking the stage at 3pm, the guests of honor will be the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a children’s orchestra from Paraguay who play musical instruments made from scrap materials collected from Asunción’s Cateura landfill. Formed in 2012, the orchestra has performed internationally with Stevie Wonder and the American heavy-metal bands Metallica and Megadeth.
As a whole, Make Music San Jose pulses with global energy, from DJ Mumbai Rani at the Levitt Pavilion San Jose to Vietnamese Community Karaoke, Indian classical fusion, and a Celtic Pipes and Drums band. There’s music everywhere, just follow your ears!
Santa Monica, CA
The Downtown Santa Monica Metro Station and Kiss & Ride Parking Lot – filled on June 21 with soccer fans en route to that afternoon’s World Cup match in Inglewood – will be transformed into the central hub of Make Music Santa Monica from 11am – 5pm, where live performances, participatory jam sessions, and hands-on music and art workshops intersect with the global energy of the World Cup.
This musical takeover will include the first-ever live music performances on the Metro platform as well as the city’s first-ever concert on a Big Blue Bus, in partnership with Music in Transit! Blending the universal languages of music and soccer, the event celebrates international culture, community play, and Santa Monica’s role as the western gateway of Route 66.
Presented by the city’s Major Events Division and the Recreation and Arts Department (RAD), in partnership with Metro and Revel Republic
