World Music Day is a free public event which takes place each year on the 21st June in more than 110 countries and 430 cities around the world.
The event is also known as Fête de la Musique as it originated in France in 1982 – since then the idea has spread across the globe with each event holding to the same set of principles:
World Music Day takes place every year on June the 21st
World Music Day is a live music celebration which highlights the diversity of musical practices, in all musical styles
World Music Day appeals for spontaneity and free participation of amateur and professional musicians
All concerts are free for the audience. The organisers commit themselves to promote musical practice and live music with a non-profit-making objective
World Music Day is an exceptional day for all types of music and audience. It must remain an open event and a source of exchanges and discoveries
World Music Day is as often as possible an outdoor event taking place in streets, squares, public parks, playgrounds… It is also the opportunity to access and open places which are not traditionally concert venues: museums, hospitals, public buildings etc.
The United Kingdom has fallen behind with the acceptance and promotion of this wonderful celebration of music in all its forms. More than that it is a celebration of summer, of community and extended use of public space. We shouldn’t let our European neighbours have all the fun!
We are asking everyone to think about how they can participate in a London contribution to World Music Day – whether that be performing, organising an event, convincing a venue to take their music to the streets or lending your time and equipment for free.
We will work with specific areas of London where we feel there will be a good response to this, the first baby-steps towards making this day a national institution. We will build up a database of places where people have pledged to make a contribution and make this list known via a street map on the internet.
If you can be part of the music or simply want to attend the events and enjoy yourself then collaborate with your friends and colleagues and motivate as many people as you can to take part. London can then be the first city in the UK to truly embrace the beautiful phenomenon known as World Music Day!