WORLD DRUM DAY

Drum with Us!

Join us for 24 hours of collective drumming in a celebration of unity and raising awareness of the natural disasters surrounding our communities.

Let’s drum together from Saturday, Oct 19th at noon, through Sunday, October 20th at noon.

SCROLL to DOWN to learn how YOU can join!

About World Drum Day

LEAF Global Arts & DRUMSTRONG announces the Virtual World Drum Day launch, set for Saturday, October 19, 2024. This initiative invites people around the globe to join in 24 hours of collective drumming to celebrate unity and support for disaster relief in Western N.C.

The concept for World Drum Day is simple: Everyone is welcome, and anyone can participate by drumming for any amount of time wherever you are— even just a few minutes — between noon on Saturday, October 19 and noon on Sunday, October 20. Drummers worldwide are invited to join in by sharing videos of themselves drumming on social media, using the tag #worlddrumday OR post directly to the World Drum Day Facebook event page. Also, a drum can be anything. Djembe, table, steel pan, drum kit, bucket, even hands and feet: whatever you have that makes a beat!

World Drum Day is a unifying vibrational outpouring of interactive community drumming, setting an intention for good while connecting thousands of global participants and raising awareness of the natural disasters surrounding our communities.

As we come together in the wake of Hurricane Helene, we recognize the devastating impact on our artistic community. So many artists and musicians are left without venues, gigs, and subsequent income to take care of their families, pets, homes, and more.

LEAF Global Arts asks for the help of anyone who is able to give in order to directly support our beloved artists.

Please consider giving to the LEAF Global Arts Artist Relief fund. All proceeds directly support our artists. In this crucial moment Dan Lucas Memorial Fund is leading forward to support local WNC & LEAF Artists. This is a MATCHING GIFT GRANT- when you GIVE, your gift is doubled. Dan Lucas Memorial Fund is dedicated to local Musicians and Cultural Institutions. Over the years, Dan Lucas’ family has guided and generously supported LEAF Global Arts and has been a catalyst in keeping culture and music alive!

“We try not to generalize Africa, but one thing I can say is that when the drums start to beat, everything else in the village stops, and everybody gathers,” says musician, dancer, educator, and peace activist Masankho Banda of Malawi. “There are those who beat the drum, those who sing, and those who dance. And for that moment, they are united in one purpose.”

It is from this deep well of tradition and the desire to connect the human family through music and rhythm — our innate and collective creativity — that the idea of World Drum Day was born.

LEAF Global Arts aims to include 50% of the world’s nations in the inaugural World Drum Day. It’s a perfect pairing with LEAF’s year-long theme, World Changers: Year of the Artivist, a call to explore how artists and activists can make meaningful change in their communities and beyond. World Drum Day participants will include teaching artists and students from LEAF International programs in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Mexico, New Orleans, Panama, Rwanda, Tanzania, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In the tradition of DrumsForCures :: DRUMSTRONG, inclusively and collaboratively drumming to support the Health of Humankind, DRUMSTRONG 2024 and LEAF will feature a 24 hour rhythm event and the entire world will play with us; bringing people together through rhythm!

The rolling pastures of Misty Meadows Farm in Weddington, North Carolina pulsed on May 5 and 6, 2007, with the inaugural DRUMSTRONG. The group drummed for 25 hours non-stop. Since then, over 80 cities in 29 countries have hosted DRUMSTRONG events to raise awareness and funds for their local cancer initiatives. The group has drummed for 30 hours non-stop. They webcast their events so that those in hospitals who aren’t able to physically join an event, and cities worldwide, can play together. DRUMSTRONG has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for research, education, clinics, camps, individuals and humanitarian assistance.

Learn more at DRUMSTRONG.org