International Music Day 2020 or World Music Day 2020 is observed today, June 21. The first all-day musical celebration on the day of the summer solstice was originated by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, and by Maurice Fleuret, and was first celebrated in Paris in 1982 as Fête de la Musique. This year, World Music Day is likely to be celebrated mostly indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fête de la Musique’s purpose is to promote music in two ways:
- Both professional and amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to present their musical talents in the streets, under the slogan “Faites de la musique”, which means to “Make music”
- Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats to being sanctioned by the official Fête de la Musique organization in Paris are that all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time free of charge. This is true of most participating cities as well
- The World Music Day theme for 2019 was “Music at the intersections”