Participate | Unsilent Night

Collage of Unsilent Night participants: holding a boombox overhead in a snowy park, a crowd at night, and someone carrying a boombox on their shoulder through NYC streets

Phil Kline's public sound sculpture Unsilent Night is created when many individuals simultaneously play one of four tracks on cassette or mobile devices. The tracks blast through a roving swarm of boomboxes and speakers carried through city streets, creating “a shimmering mass of music that may thaw even the most frozen holiday hearts” (The Wall Street Journal).

Below are guidelines on how to participate in your local performance.

Check out the evolving schedule to see if one is near you. If you want to start your own, contact us!

How to Be Unsilent

Step 1: Choose Your Instrument

Grab your favorite bluetooth speaker or an old boombox. Remember to charge your speaker or check those batteries.

If you really want to go all out, we highly encourage making your own sound rig. We love it when you get creative!

Homemade Unsilent Night sound rig made from a bike helmet with horn speakers attached

Step 2: Download the App

Get the app on your mobile device and let it magically choose a track for you.

You can also Stream a track, download a track, or play a cassette tape.

Step 3: Share Your Photos and Videos

#UnsilentNight

Unsilent Night participants gathered in a circle in a plaza decorated with lit Christmas trees at dusk

Illustrated graphic of a glowing boombox against a starry night sky

Unsilent Night participants in a nighttime crowd, one holding a glowing LED hoop

Unsilent Night participant holding a boombox overhead while walking through a crowd at night

Unsilent Night participants walking down a lit city street at night wearing glowing light-up leis

Unsilent Night participant dressed as a lit-up Christmas tree, carrying two boomboxes

Overhead view of three vintage boomboxes laid out with numbered tags

Unsilent Night participants laughing together at night, one wearing a strand of blue lights

Person holding a large vintage boombox overhead on a city street

Large crowd gathered in Washington Square Park at night for Unsilent Night, with One World Trade Center visible in the background

Unsilent Night participants walking past an illuminated blue-lit building at night in France

Screenshot of a Philadelphia Inquirer article titled "All is acoustic, all is bright: Philly celebrates 'Unsilent Night'"

Stream a Track

We suggest downloading the track before the event to avoid disruptions in service.

Download a Track

Download a track in advance from one of the links below (only activated during performance months).

A genuine Unsilent Night cassette: a Sony HF 90 tape labeled UN 2

Analog Cassette

Some city organizers hand out a limited number of cassettes. Contact your local organizer for more details.