Make Music Madison (MMM): a free, all-day, outdoor celebration of music in Madison. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Well, it just kicked off last year and tomorrow (June 21) will see the second iteration of the yearly event that occurs on the summer solstice. In 2013, the celebration saw over 280 concerts performed around the city, and this year it’s even bigger. Over 380 performers (mostly amateur) will be playing outdoor shows all throughout Madison.
Why the summer solstice? Well, that’s what the French wanted to do some 30-plus years ago (in 1982 to be exact). The original organizers learned that most everyone in France played some sort of musical instrument. With that nugget of info, they came up with the grand idea to get everyone to play music outside on that one day a year. And it has continued to this day.
Nowadays, the event takes place all over the world. It is in dozens of cities in the United States and hundreds of cities worldwide. The unspoken goal is to turn it into a worldwide celebration of music and community—and that’s hard not to get behind.
The event came to Madison when Michael Rothschild learned about NYC’s version and teamed up Beth Mastin to bring this great event here. They, along with a handful of other volunteers, poured their hearts and soul into making the first MMM in 2013 a success. This year they have expanded their group of volunteers and have succeeded in growing the event by over 100 more performances.
If you’re outside on Saturday (and you should be, because its Madison in summertime, silly) and you hear music playing, wander up and enjoy it. Participate. Tip the musicians.
Click here for the full Make Music Madison lineup and/or download the app.