Make Music in the Laurel: Saturday June 19, Laurel Music Festival'

by Rochelle Wald

In celebration of the beginning of summer, the Laurel neighborhood will be holding its fifth free Summer Solstice Music Festival (SSMF), Saturday, June 19, from noon until 7 p.m. Here's a chance to play and share music with others, whether it be in your front yard, porch, indoors, or on the corner sidewalk nearby. For the past four years, the Laurel Village Association (LVA) has organized the music festival, having enlarged it with up to 65 groups at 10 locations in the neighborhood in 2009.'

This June 19, which also coincides with Juneteenth celebrations, everyone in the Laurel and surrounding areas is encouraged to come out and take to the streets, meet your neighbors, participate in your community, and make music. The Laurel's SSMF is part of a worldwide community in over 300 cities, which now usher in summer with their own music festivals. It is modeled after the original Fête de la Musique, which started in 1982 in Paris, and takes place on the summer solstice each year.'

To participate, you can perform solo, as a duet, as a group, offer a venue for performers, or simply enjoy listening to the music at various locations throughout the Laurel. Musicians who know where and when they will be performing, or are interested in finding a venue, contact John Frando at jfrando\@gmail.com. Those knowing who you will be hosting, or those wanting to be connected with musicians to host at your business or home, contact Sara Wynne at srwynne\@comcast.net.

When matched up, musicians and hosts are requested to coordinate logistics directly with each other. Performers will need to provide their own audio equipment this year. All ages and all levels of musical ability are welcome! A listing of submitted performance sites and musicians will be created and posted on the Laurel and other local listservs, and in flyers distributed in the neighborhood the week before the festival.'

Kindly contact John or Sara by June 10 to be included in the public listing. Tell one, and tell all, that the Laurel Summer Solstice Music Festival is alive and we would be honored to have you involved in one way or another. If you don't play an instrument or wish to sing or perform, come to enjoy the music. Hang out, celebrate and come together with neighbors to delight in music in the hood, and support our now five-year tradition.