Make Music Winter, first launched in 2011, is a free, outdoor musical event each December 21st that turns audiences into music makers. Inspired by Phil Kline’s annual Unsilent Night – the boombox parade that has become an international tradition – Make Music Winter transforms New York’s cityscape with participatory musical parades on the winter solstice, running the gamut of musical genres. Here's a list of the different parades, where they start and end, and how you can join in the fun!
Start W. 55th Street and 6½ Ave, 5:00pm
End W. 43rd Street and Broadway, 6:30pm
How to Join Just show up with your hands free!
Flat Foot Flatbush: Nick Horner Family
Start Grand Army Plaza Park (Brooklyn), 2:30pm
End Shake Shack, Flatbush Ave at 5th Ave, 4:10pm
How to Join All are invited to play, sing, and dance — no experience necessary! To dance, bring tap shoes or an old pair of sneakers and make your own at the workshop. To play, bring your instrument and email Nick by December 18 to receive the music.
The Gaits: A High Line Soundwalk: Lainie Fefferman, Jascha Narveson, Cameron Britt & Daniel Iglesia
Start Southern end of the High Line, at the base of the Gansevoort Stairs, 5:00pm. (For elevator access, enter to the left of the stairs.)
End Northern end of the High Line, 6:30pm
How to Join Download the free Gaits application to your phone. Bring a small battery-powered speaker if you have one. Speakers will be available on loan for the first 100 participants.
Start Cooper Park (Brooklyn), 4:00pm
End McCarren Park, 5:30pm
How to Join Bring a kalimba (thumb piano), chimes or hand bells tuned to a specific key, TBD. Kalimbas will be available for the first 20 participants to borrow.
Start 43rd Ave and 24th Street (Queens), 3:00pm
End Various, 4:32pm
How to Join All brass musicians and bagpipers are welcome!
Parranda con Paranda: WHEDCO & Bronx Music Heritage Center
Start Intervale Green, 1330 Intervale Ave (Bronx), 4:00pm
End Bronx Music Heritage Center, 1303 Louis Niné Blvd, 5:00pm
How to Join All are invited to sing, dance and play their own instruments. Show up to any of the Parranda venues, sing along with the musicians when they arrive, then follow them to the next location!
Pilgrimage: Malcolm J. Merriweather
Start Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5th Ave at 82nd Street, 6:30pm
End Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave, 7:30pm
How to Join Bring a flashlight and print out the sheet music. A limited number of lights and scores will be distributed for those without.
Start William Jay Gaynor Memorial in Cadman Plaza (Brooklyn), 4:00pm
End Archway under the Manhattan Bridge, 5:00pm
How to Join To perform, download the iPhone app, or one of the four provided mp3s, and bring it along with your instrument (or voice!) and a pair of earbuds.
Soho Gamelan Walk: Daniel Goode
Start Sixth Ave and Spring Street, 2:00pm
End Location TBD, 3:00pm
How to Join Show up with your hands free (gloves recommended)!
La Trullita Navideña de Los Sures: El Puente & BombaYo
Start El Puente Headquarters, 211 S. 4th Street (Brooklyn), 1:00pm
End El Puente Headquarters, end time TBD
How to Join All are invited to sing, dance and play their own instruments. Bring your instruments (or your voice!) and show up to any of the venues along the way with your own!
Village in Volume Celebrates “In C”: Amy Garapic & Clara Warnaar
Start Basketball Courts by the West 4th subway stop (West 3rd and 6th Ave), 4:00pm
End TBD, 5:00pm
How to Join All instrumentalists and vocalists welcome. Non-instrumentalists are invited to play tuned chimes, to be distributed at the beginning of the parade. Sign up (link in body of page) or email Amy at amy@makemusicny.org with questions.
Start Grand Army Plaza (Brooklyn), 4:00pm
End Lakeside in Prospect Park, 5:30pm
How to Join Bring your bicycle (and a screwdriver, to attach your bell.)
Winterize: Christopher Dylan Herbert
Start Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Magnolia Plaza, 11:00am
End Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 12:15pm
How to Join Bring a small battery-powered radio if you have one. Radios will be available for the first 50 people to borrow. Note that admission to the garden is waived before 11 am; this event is free.