Kenai Peninsula residents can expect another slate of free concerts at Soldotna Creek Park this summer.
On Friday morning, the Levitt Foundation announced the winners of the “Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant,” which is a $25,000 matching grant awarded to cities around the country to provide free live music in their communities. Soldotna was one of 20 cities awarded the grant for 2020, and this will be the second year Soldotna has received the grant.
Last year, the grant allowed organizers to expand the already-popular weekly summer concert series in Soldotna Creek Park with even more performances and brought a number of artists from around the country as well as bands local to the Kenai Peninsula and Alaska.
Leading up to the announcement, people were asked to go the Levitt Foundation’s website and vote for their communities to win. The communities that received the most votes were then sent to the Foundation’s board, which ultimately decided the winners.
Andy Heuiser, Events and Programs Director for the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, said on Friday that getting the grant for a second year in a row will mean residents can expect the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series to be expanded even further.
“Expect to see a lot of big acts and a wide genre of music,” Heuiser said. “We’ll be building more on the lawn activities that happen before the bands go on as well as incorporating more cultural aspects into the shows.”
Heuiser also said that local acts will remain a staple of the music series.
“Every opening act for sure will be a local act,” Heuiser said. “And I’m sure at least a few of the headliners will either be from the peninsula or Anchorage or somewhere else in Alaska.”
Heuiser expects to start booking bands by January, with the definitive lineup to be released some time in late March or early April. For more information on the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series, visit their Facebook page or call the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce at 907-262-9814.
“We can’t wait to get back out to Soldotna Creek Park and engage with the community with some great live music,” Heuiser said.
