Chattanooga joins the Make Music Day celebration with a free city-wide music festival on Friday, June 21. Make Music Day Chattanooga is a one-day event where free, live musical performances, opportunities to make music and other musical events take place around the world on the longest day of the year. The musical festivities in Chattanooga are part of a global celebration of music-making in over 1,000 cities inspired by France’s Fête de la Musique.
The event will feature a blend of live performances, interactive workshops, and diverse music-making activities held across Chattanooga and surrounding areas, with each activity hosted by members or organizations within the local music community.
“Arts and culture are hugely important to Chattanooga’s quality of life, sense of community, and economy,” said Mayor Tim Kelly. “That’s why advancing the arts is one of the key priorities of my One Chattanooga Plan. I hope musicians and music lovers across our community enjoy this day to celebrate the outstanding musical talent we have in Chattanooga.”
Everyone from venue owners, musicians, performers, educators, students, and music lovers are invited to join in the celebration taking place on June 21.
“Hamilton County has a rich history propelling young people to the highest achievements in the arts,” said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. “From the journey of Chattanooga’s own public school kid, Usher, to the successes of homegrown music stars, from Bessie Smith to Kane Brown–it’s apparent Hamilton County has a legacy of producing some of the best in the business. May our community’s vibrant music scene continue to thrive and inspire the artists of tomorrow as we celebrate Make Music Day."
Make Music Day Chattanooga is a collaborative effort made possible by ArtsBuild, Chattanooga Tourism Co., the city of Chattanooga, Lyndhurst Foundation, RISE Chattanooga, River City Company, SoundCorps, SoundMind Creative Strategies, and more. These partnerships underscore Chattanooga's commitment to nurturing a thriving music community and supporting local venues, key focus areas identified in the 2022 Chattanooga Music Census, said officials.
“Music is a means by which to feed the soul," said Karen Collins, founding artist and creator of The Velvet Chair Experience. "It can literally be life changing, and I view the opportunity to sing and perform live music as a special gift. A gift to me and hopefully a gift to others. That's why Make Music Day Chattanooga is so important. On this one day, all over our city, we will have the opportunity to celebrate the creativity and giftings of our local artists through music, regardless of the genre, on this one day in time, we all are connected, and that's powerful.”
A launch meeting for interested hosts and performers will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Learn more about Make Music Day Chattanooga and register for the meeting at makemusicday.org/chattanooga.