World Singing Day Date in the current year: October 19, 2024

Singing – the act of producing musical sounds with the voice – is believed to predate the development of spoken language. The human voice is the original musical instrument, and there is no human culture that does not have singing. While a lot of people primarily associate signing with entertainment, it has been an important part of worship and community life since antiquity.

The act of signing has a lot of benefits regardless of one’s vocal ability. For example, it improves the mood and helps combat stress by increasing the production of “happiness hormones” (dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin), enhances lung function, and helps develop a better posture. Singing can help you better connect to your own culture, understand other cultures, and master foreign languages. Finally, communal singing brings people closer together and helps them build meaningful connections by creating a sense of togetherness and community.

World Singing Day was created in 2012 by American musician Scott Johnson, a co-founder of the Positive Music Association that promotes musicians and music with positive, life-affirming messages. Songwriting and music helped Johnson deal with the challenges of his life and get in touch with the more joyful parts of himself, so he created World Signing Day to give people around the globe an opportunity to experience the joy within themselves through singing.

World Singing Day is a joyful celebration of music and community experience for everyone, musicians and non-musicians alike, regardless of their race, national origin, religious affiliation, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and singing ability. It encourages people from different backgrounds and paths of life to put aside their differences and celebrate the things we all share as human beings by signing together. The event is not political or religious, nor does it single out any particular culture or country.

Every year on the third Saturday of October people would gather in groups big and small in parks, squares, beaches, pubs, schools, college campuses, places of worship, community centers, workplaces, and homes to sing together without the pressure of performing in front of an audience and being judged for their vocal ability. World Singing Day is a sing-along, not a competition; everyone can join, and no prior rehearsals are required. Participants are free to choose what songs to sing, as long as they are appropriate for the venue.

Of course, the best way to celebrate World Singing Day is to join a local sing-along or even organize a sing-along event of your own. Other fun ways to get involved with the holiday include taking a road trip with a group of friends and singing along to the radio (or your very special road trip playlist), going out to a karaoke bar, singing in the shower, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #WorldSingingDay.