HEAD TO HAYMARKET. Eau Claire will celebrate "Make Music Day" at the Haymarket Plaza, pictured, from noon-2pm on Friday, June 21.

Twenty-three cities across Wisconsin and more than 150 cities across the country are set to present hundreds of free outdoor musical events on Friday, June 21 for “Make Music Day,” a global music celebration held on the Summer Solstice each year in an effort to bring people of all ages and skill levels together to make music. Eau Claire is one of those cities, and will bring celebratory activities to Haymarket Plaza from noon-2pm that day.

Pablo Center at the Confluence and CollECtive Arts invite all to celebrate at Haymarket Plaza with an afternoon of activities slated for folks to enjoy, including the ARTmobile, music looping stations, an instrument petting zoo, ukulele corner, a youth band performance, and more.

According to a recent media release, Make Music Day is distinct from a traditional music festival as it celebrates and encourages communities to engage with music on every level: performance, learning, teaching, and simply experiencing the making of music.

“Each year, Make Music Wisconsin gets bigger and better, and reaches more people around the state,” said Anne Katz, executive director of Create Wisconsin, in the media release. “The 23 Wisconsin communities involved this year include our largest cities and some of our smallest towns. … We’re in awe of the creativity and hard work of community members in every one of these places, bringing together neighbors, friends, and family members through music as the universal language.”

Make Music Day was founded in 1982 in France at “Fête De La Musique,” and over the past four decades has expanded to more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.

Eau Claire’s activities for Make Music Day will be held at Haymarket Plaza in downtown E.C. from 12-2pm on Friday, June 21. Learn more about the global celebration online at makemusicday.org.