Concertgoers listen during one of the weekly concerts in the park, put on as part of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series in Soldotna, Alaska, in the summer of 2017. (Photo courtesy Andrew Heuiser/Soldotna Chamber of Commerce)

Concertgoers listen during one of the weekly concerts in the park, put on as part of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series in Soldotna, Alaska, in the summer of 2017. (Photo courtesy Andrew Heuiser/Soldotna Chamber of Commerce)

Weekly concerts in Soldotna start tonight

Seward band Blackwater Railroad Company will headline the 1st event

Wednesdays at Soldotna Creek Park are about to get loud.

Tonight marks the first night of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series, a series of 12 free concerts taking place every Wednesday from June 5 to Aug. 21. Tonight’s concert will be headlined by Blackwater Railroad Company, a folk and bluegrass band based out of Seward. Opening for Blackwater Railroad Company will be the Cow Skinners, a rock group based in the central peninsula.

The Cow Skinners will be making their Soldotna Music Series debut, but the folks in Blackwater Railroad Company are no strangers to the event. Andrew Heuiser, the events and programs director for the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, said that Blackwater has been a staple of the concert series and has made appearances since the event first started in the summer of 2015.

In addition to live music, the event will feature local food trucks and craft booths, as well a different family-friendly lawn activity every week. This week, folks young and old can embrace the music festival spirit by tie-dyeing bandanas courtesy of Drunken Forest Tie Dye. Heuiser said that the lawn activities will start at 5 p.m., and the bands will hit the stage at 6 p.m. The food trucks and craft booths are likely to vary from week to week, but Heuiser said that he is hoping for an appearance from Yo! Taco, Wok n’ Roll and local knife-maker Bill Peace with Alaska Knife and Sheath.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series, formerly known as Soldotna’s Music in the Park Series, has grown significantly since its inception in 2015. Heuiser said during a presentation to the Soldotna Chamber on May 1 that only a handful of people showed up to the first concert and the organizers were initially nervous about its success.

“Now it’s not surprising to see 1,000 people at Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday nights,” Heuiser said.

This year, the Soldotna Chamber received a $25,000 matching grant from the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation for the music series. The grant allowed Heuiser and the other organizers to bring in a wider array of performers while keeping the concerts free to the public. The grant is part of the Levitt AMP Your City Initiative, which aims to use live music to unite communities and small towns around the country. Soldotna was one of 18 cities to receive the grant this year.

The popularity of the concert series has surged so much that it has, at this point, outgrown Soldotna Creek Park’s capacity for parking. Heuiser said that the organizers were aware of the potential of insufficient parking. Davis Block & Concrete Company, which is located adjacent to the park, has agreed to accommodate the overflow parking.

Heuiser said that other local businesses in the vicinity will be making their parking available as well, and a parking map can be viewed online at the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series Facebook Page.

More in News

Concert-goers listen to The Discopians at Concert on the Lawn on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Karen Hornaday Park in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
‘Dancing at the end of the world’

KBBI AM 890 hosted their annual Concert on the Lawn Saturday.

Lisa Gabriel unfurls a set beach seine during a test fishery for the gear near Clam Gulch, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seine test fishery continues after board of fish calls for more data

The east side setnet fishery has been entirely closed in recent years to protect Kenai River king salmon

Jason Criss stands for a photo in Soldotna, Alaska, after being named a qualifier for the Special Olympics USA Games on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna athlete to compete in 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

Thousands of athletes from across all 50 states will be competing in 16 sports.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna OKs $395,000 capital plan

This year’s list of capital projects is “nominal compared to some past years,” according to officials.

A map of areas proposed for annexation by the City of Soldotna. (Provided by City of Soldotna)
Soldotna adds annexation proposal to ballot

The proposed annexation is split across five small areas around the city.

Nets are extended from North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, during the first day of the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘A really good day’

Kenai River personal use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery opens.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough assembly to consider ordinance to increase residential property tax exemption

If approved by voters in October, the ordinance would increase the tax exemption by $25,000.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in