A tradition that started in France in 1982, Make Music Day has grown into a global event observed in some 2,000 cities in more than 120 countries. The goal? Producing free music in nontraditional venues. Originally called Fête de la Musique, the onetime pet project of France’s Ministry of Culture is now an international holiday happening every summer solstice. It returns this Sunday, June 21.
Vermont has celebrated for more than a decade. The now-defunct Burlington nonprofit Big Heavy World coordinated shows around the state, from porch jams to bands playing in churches. In Big Heavy’s stead, a new organization has stepped in: the Randolph Make Music Committee, spearheaded by musician and producer Vincent Freeman, owner and operator of the Underground, a recording studio and listening room in Randolph. Together with Chandler Center for the Arts and White River Craft Center, the committee is on a mission to grow Make Music Day in Vermont and make getting involved easier than ever for performers and venues.
“I’m so excited to connect with town leaders to help spread the word,” said Freeman, who has been involved with Make Music Day since 2019. “We want to show the other communities what we’ve done in Randolph for the last seven years and how to make the day really work.”
Make Music Day is a labor of love for the studio owner. “I’ve been performing music since I was 10,” he said. “Raising awareness around musicians, getting folks to leave their house and see shows — those are important things to me.”
Freeman is originally from Germany and grew up around what he described as a “European street-festival music culture.” He hopes to cultivate something similar in the Green Mountains.
The beauty of Make Music Day is that anyone can join in by registering at makemusicvt.org. Those interested in attending can also find an interactive map of shows around the state, from Bennington to Bethel, Windsor to Winooski.
Befitting its status as the epicenter of Vermont’s Make Music Day, Randolph boasts some great options. Highlights include the teenage seven-piece soul-pop outfit MINC at Randolph Town Park, as well as an entire hip-hop festival at Polestar Cannabis. All the Rivers, a multicultural band led by Burlington’s Avi Salloway, headline the day’s events at Chandler Center for the Arts.
Beyond Randolph, there’s an open jam session at the North Hero Public Library; the rock band Dahg plays at Temple Sinai in South Burlington; Mélange perform at the Middlebury Green; Rich Grumble plays folk music at Maple Coffee in Putney; and the Bethel Bandshell hosts Spencer Lewis, Tony Strat and Luminous Crush.
For the full schedule, visit makemusicvt.org.
It’s been about a year since the legendary Burlington rock club Nectar’s closed for good. The building sits empty on Main Street still, a sad relic of the city’s rich musical history. While there’s no news on a Nectar’s rebirth, many of the musicians who were such a big part of its history are throwing a party to toast the good days.
“The Nectar’s Experience 1975” goes down on Sunday, June 21, at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, with a stacked lineup of Queen City scene veterans: Paul Asbell, Chuck Eller, Jeff Salisbury, Dave Grippo, Jim Branca, Blues for Breakfast, Seth Yacovone and plenty more.
The show promises to be a wonderful throwback to the days of the N-Zones and the X-Rays. Look for an interview with the originator himself, Nectar Rorris, at sevendaysvt.com for more history and thoughts on the future of the club — if it has one, that is!
In the meantime, turn back the clock and catch Nectar’s at Higher Ground … which is a really, really weird sentence to type. Just a thought for the folks at Higher Ground: Maybe serve gravy fries that night?
This article appears in June 17 • 2026.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
