The beginning
 
In 1982, on the 21st of June – the day of the summer solstice – with the initiative of Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture at that time, Music Day or Make Music Day (from French translation Fête de la Musique or Faites de la Musique) was celebrated for the first time with the aim of “bringing out onto the streets all musicians”. Next year Music Day brought together 200.000 amateur and professional artists of every kind flooding public spaces, squares, streets, parks, concerts halls and all kinds of locations, presenting numerous gigs with the support of local authorities.
Events ranged from classical to jazz, hip‐hop, rock, dance to traditional music always free for the public and thanks to the generous supporters and sponsors of Music Day.
 
Music Day soon became an exportable concept and institution, and in 1985 it travelled beyond France with the same aim and parameters. Athens, as the first cultural capital of Europe was the first city outside France to celebrate Music Day.
 
Since then, the concept had to adapt to new goals aiming to support Unity through Diversity, connecting local goals with European aims to be added to the main ideas of the Music Day. Thus, under the network name European Music Day, its partners keeps the essential goals of the Music Day (free entrance and promotion of various artists) but adds the European collaboration and the exchange of artists in the production.
 
European Music Day Greece
First events where held in Athens on the 21st of June 1999. Since then, European Music Day has become a national event that takes place simultaneously in 30 cities per year (average) throughout Greece (reaching 70% of the population though).
Organization combines the production and coordination of a series of events that vary in size and in character (street music festivals, show cases, recitals or big concerts).
 
European Music Day arrived in Naxos in 2011 and it has already become a “must” event in the calendar. It takes place in the pedestrian street of Halki the 20th and 21st of June and this year the program is as follows:
 
20th of June:
Fistiki Saloni (Traditional Greek music)
Horizons (Rock)
Spontaneous Heat Pumps (Jazz-Funk)
A' thelome (Cretan Music)
 
21st of June:
Vana Mimidou (Piano Recital)
Duo “Tre Note” (Classical Music – Piano and Flute)
Acordeon Group of Syros (Balkan and Mediterranean Music)
Lemonostifel (Alternative)
 
All concerts at pedestrian street of Halki – Naxos. Music starts at 20:00. Free entrance