This Sunday, Salem’s streets, alleyways, restaurants and parks will fill with music as the community celebrates the longest day of the year.

It’s the 11th Make Music Day in Salem, but the first without co-founder Mark Green.

Green died on August 5, 2025 at the age of 60. He had celebrated Make Music Day Salem’s 10th anniversary that June.

This year’s celebration will honor Green’s memory. About 220 bands and musicians are slated to play at some 50 venues around downtown, north, south and West Salem. The event runs from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., with many performances concentrated downtown, including several at Riverfront Park, 200 Water St. N.E.

Each year, Salem joins some 2,000 cities worldwide to celebrate Make Music Day on June 21, the summer solstice. The free event draws thousands of people to see musicians perform at places like the Salem Public Library, the downtown transit station and local bars and restaurants.

Putting together this year’s Make Music Day has been difficult for Green’s wife, Karen, who said it’s “status quo without the other half, unfortunately, without Mark.”

The Greens were married for 32 years and have one daughter, Danielle, now 26. The couple met in the dorms while attending California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

“Last year, at this time, we were both working on this together and we were attending our committee meetings together and we were just talking about different things as part of the celebration together, and so it’s definitely emotional in terms of doing this, knowing he’s not here,” Karen Green said.

Make Music Day Salem started with Mark Green, a co-owner of RiverCity Rock Star Academy and consultant for family businesses, who first discovered the event after reading an article about New York City’s celebration. 

He brought the idea to a group of local business owners, with the hope it would help expand the city’s cultural offerings and give young people more reasons to stay in town rather than travel to Portland for entertainment. 

“He was very passionate about whatever he was working on. He was driven. He was a go-getter,” Karen Green said.

That drive carried over to Make Music Day Salem.

The first Make Music Day Salem was held in 2016. It saw about a thousand attendees and around 40 artists hosted at 15-20 venues.

Putting together the event year after year exhausted the Greens, who helped organize it from the start. 

“Every year it seemed like he would say, ‘Okay, I can’t do this anymore, I’m too old to do this,” Green said.

But the people that kept them both coming back each year.

“Even though it took a lot out of us, it was so worth it, just hearing how happy folks are,” Green said.

In its early days, the event was mainly downtown, which was struggling at the time. It has since spread to include all sides of Salem. There is even one performance in Independence this year. This year, Green is hoping for around 5,000 attendees.

Along with music, there will also be dances and free activities.

Found Alley, where people can make their own music, will be in Wexford Alley, 455 Court St. N.E. It will have discovery instruments for kids and all ages to try out. There will be a bucket drumming workshop at 1 p.m., a ukulele strum-along at 3 p.m. and a harmonica lesson and giveaway at 4 p.m. This year’s Silent Disco will be held at the Grand Theatre Brick Room from 9 – 11:30 p.m. Find the full schedule by venue here, and a map of events here.

Venues around town will be honoring Mark Green’s legacy. 

Santiam Brewing, one of the south venues, will have a special pilsner with his picture on the can. The Grand Theatre downtown will name their main stage the “Mark Green Memorial Stage” for the evening. Organizers will also be handing out free stickers and buttons remembering him.

Make Music Day has continued to draw support from the city officials and community donors. It was awarded the Salem Spirit Award in 2024, recognized as “one of the most cherished events for Salem’s cultural community,” according to Councilor Micki Varney, who presented the honor. 

More recently, Mayor Julie Hoy presented the Make Music Day Salem committee with a Proclamation from the City of Salem officially proclaiming June 21 as Make Music Day.

Outside of Make Music Day, Mark Green loved to cook, was a baseball fan, a great dad and loved his two cats, George and Elaine, named after the Seinfeld characters, Karen Green said. He also served on the Make Music Alliance board for about two years before his passing.

“Salem definitely feels like our community, like home,” Green said. “We’ve been here during our majority of our adult life and had our family here … I honestly can’t imagine moving or living elsewhere.”

Have a news tip? Contact reporter Hailey Cook: [email protected] .

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