A global celebration of music is coming to Clatsop County for the summer solstice.

Make Music Day unites music lovers of all sorts for a day-long celebration June 21. Live performances will be scattered throughout downtown Astoria from noon to 8 p.m.

“As people explore the concerts on June 21, they are exploring their own community, the people who live in it, and the musical scenes and spaces they might have previously overlooked,” Sheila Martin, chair of the Arts Council of Clatsop County, said.

Make Music events are free and open to the public, a way to enjoy lively, local music in a casual setting.

At the Ten Fifteen Theater at 1015 Commercial St., in Astoria, back-to-back performances are scheduled all afternoon and evening. Folk and jazz groups, including Not Your Usual Handbell Choir and Joe & Rick, will play, and the Astoria Ukulele Orchestra will close the evening with a performance from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Taylan Brooking, a local drummer, will teach bucket drumming, and Marian Beck will demonstrate the steel pan drum, giving passersby the chance to try it, Martin said.

Songs inspired by the ocean will be played at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. There will be a Kids Make Music session at the Barbey Maritime Center from noon to 2 p.m. Port Hopper, at 943 Commercial St., in Astoria, will host a reggae performance from Steel Pan Drums from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“Any kind of performance is welcome,” Martin said. “There’s no limit on who can play, what they play, or where they play it.”

This is also the first year of a parade, which will start at about 5 p.m. at the Ten Fifteen Theater and go around downtown Astoria. People are encouraged to bring instruments like harmonicas, drums, banjos, or just their singing voice.

Bagpipe players, a string quintet from Astoria High School and the Cascadia Chamber Opera members are just a few groups who have shown up in previous years’ festivals.

Make Music has doubled in size from its first year in Clatsop County in 2022, Martin said, who took part previously in South Dakota.

“I participated years ago as a musician in Make Music Black Hills and thought it would be a perfect project for the community-oriented Arts Council of Clatsop County to coordinate,” she said.

Make Music has been held on the summer solstice for 40 years, according the Arts Council. It has expanded since then, and this year, more than 150 U.S. cities are organizing events. Thousands more are participating worldwide.

The origins of the festival are tied to France, where the country’s Ministry of Culture came up with the idea to make a holiday focused on music.

“The appeal of performing on Make Music Day is universal,” Martin said. “It can make anyone feel like more of who they truly are, or aspire to be.”