A Not So Silent Night

Winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It’s on December 21st, and celebrated all around the world by many different people in many different ways. One of the celebrations is called Make Music Winter, spearheaded by Make Music Alliance and presented by the NAMM Foundation.

In nearly 35 cities across the nation, communities will be offering free outdoor musical celebrations that include parades, live performances, workshops and other music related events designed to bring people together of all musical abilities and styles to sing, play, march, and dance their way across streets, parks, and other public places.

This year marks the fifth nationwide December celebration. Since 2011, New York City has been the US’s organizing city with over a dozen musical parades each year. More than 35 cities joined the party in 2021. Learn more here.

Some of the participating cities for 2022 include Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Columbia (MO), Denver, Knoxville, Land ‘O Lakes, Macon (GA), Madison (WI), Miami, Nashville, Salem, Santa Fe and more. For a complete rundown of this years event, click here.

It all started 40 years ago with summer solstice in 1982 when France’s Minister of Culture dreamed up the idea of a new kind of holiday. Unlike a typical music festival, anyone and everyone would be invited to join and play music, or host performances. They called it called Fête De La Musique. (In French, the name means both “festival of music” and “make music.”) Learn more about that original celebration here.

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 member companies and individual members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music-making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, visit www.nammfoundation.org.