Make Music Fairfield Day returns Sunday, June 21, with the Center for Arts & Minds stage as a part of a town-wide invitation to listen, linger, and drift into sound.
Fairfield University’s Center for Arts & Minds is thrilled to be hosting a stage for Make Music Fairfield Day on Sunday, June 21 from 1 - 8 p.m. Last year, on the lawn outside the University’s 1720 Post Road building, more than 300 community members gathered throughout the day to hear from a variety of artists, both amateurs and professionals.
This year will be no different, with a wide range of local talent appearing including acts like Ellis Island, The Bad Saints, King’s Highway, and others, and will culminate in a closing performance by The Noodlers, a Fairfield University faculty band with bandmembers hailing from across disciplines—business, mathematics, English, and other areas.
Now in its ninth year, Make Music Fairfield Day is an opportunity for musicians, regardless of skill level, to get into the community with their music on the Summer Equinox. Originally started in France as Fête de la Musique in 1981, the event has grown globally since then, with chapters popping up in Germany, Peru, and India, as well as many other countries.
Lou Heumann, Board Member at the Fairfield Theatre Company and the coordinator of Make Music Fairfield Day, shared that the festival is “thrilled” to include Fairfield University’s Center for Arts & Minds in the roster of premiere stages. “The Post Road pocket park serves as a gateway to the hub of downtown, offering audiences and performers alike a beautiful space to celebrate the summer solstice,” Heumann said.
This year, the event falls on Father’s Day. To celebrate all the dads around town and in the community, the Center’s stage will be highlighting “Dad Rock,” a playful descriptor for the classic rock FM staples of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Two of the Arts & Minds groups, Ellis Island and ZX3, are known for their electric covers of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, as well as Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters.
Adding to the mix will be the Bad Saints, a female-fronted rock band popular across Fairfield County for their expert renditions of rock hits from the ’60s to the present day. Tom Petty, one of the Kings of Dad Rock, will be represented on the Center’s stage by local group King’s Highway, named after both the road in town and the Tom Petty tune. Each group throughout the day will provide energy, fun, and the soundtrack for a summer’s day.
Learn more about Make Music Fairfield Day and find a listing of all locations at makemusicday.org/fairfield.
