The City of Adelaide is hosting Make Music Day, a free, city-wide live music takeover on Saturday, June 21.

Over 220 performers will play across 40 venues in the CBD and North Adelaide. Make Music Day is a global event, originating in France as Fête de la Musique. The festival showcases Adelaide’s grassroots music culture with a program of accessible, all-ages, family-friendly events, highlighting the city’s status as a UNESCO City of Music.

The festival has been developed in response to feedback from the council’s Live Music Forum, with consideration given to performers from diverse cultural backgrounds, along with young and emerging bands, neurodivergent artists, and those living with disability.

Highlights include French-inspired music at the Adelaide Central Market, a performance by the Sun of Africa Drum and Dance Ensemble at Adelaide Railway Station, performances in Hindmarsh Square/Mukata and Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, and the Primary Schools Festival of Music Choir at Rundle Mall. The program also includes performances at cafes, bars, galleries, bookstores, retail and cultural hubs, and city squares.

Executive Director of Alliance Française Adelaide Anne-Lise Heynen-Giri says Fête de la Musique “turns every corner into a stage and brings music to everyone”.

“We’re thrilled to see this French-born celebration come to life in Adelaide’s streets,” Anne-Lise says, “boosting the city’s vibrant live music scene.”

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said the festival was developed in response to feedback from Council’s Live Music Forum, held in November 2024, which brought together 100 members of the local music community.

“We heard that thriving music scenes create opportunities for young people, support original music across a range of genres, promote music venues of all sizes, and offer all ages and family-friendly events,” Lomax-Smith says.

“We listened to the challenges that performers from diverse cultural backgrounds, young and emerging bands, neurodivergent artists, and performers living with disabilities can experience, and we acted.”

This listing was produced with the help of Evan, CityMag’s AI event assistant. Evan keeps up with Adelaide’s thriving events calendar so our journalists can spend more time chasing the stories that matter to the city. He saves us time so you can have a good time. If there are any inaccuracies, please contact [email protected].