It’s almost International Make Music Day! Who are you going to support?

If you believe that there’s nothing better than making music together then Make Music Day is for you. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, the festival has become an international celebration of music held annually on 21 June in 120 countries and 750 cities.

Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician — young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion — pours onto streets, parks, plazas, and porches to share their music with friends, neighbours, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate your musical activity, showcase it to potential new members and audiences and make new connections in your community.

So, who are you going to support? Here is a list of events in the UK and if you’d like to find an event outside the UK click here.

And it’s never too late to take part. You’ll find full details on how you can get involved on the Make Music Day UK website, but here are some quick examples of what you could do:

• Hold a singing event in your local area and include singing/teaching the Make Music Day song (Bring me sunshine, available free)
• Perform with your instrumental group, anywhere (there are free instrumental arrangements of Bring me sunshine available too)
• Put on ‘bandaoke’ in your local pub or outside your library, backing singers with a brass band, a rock group, a ukulele ensemble…
• Already rehearsing on 21 June? Throw open your doors and make it public; or go one step further and make it a ‘Come and Sing’ or ‘Come and Play’ evening for newcomers/musical returners
• Already performing on 21 June? That’s great! Get some extra free publicity by listing it as part of Make Music Day.
• You’re a teacher? Fantastic! Can your school sing the song in assembly?

And if you play in Black Dress Code, remember to tweet us a pic!

You can register and find out more on the Make Music Day UK website or email the UK project managers Alison Porter and Nick Feldman to discuss your idea – info@makemusicday.co.uk. Not in the UK? You can find help on the same website to register your project in our own city.

Feel free to use your imagination! There are no limits to what you could do on Make Music Day, provided it’s musical, and on 21 June.