The COVID-19 pandemic led to a great deal of uncertainty about the 2020 Levitt AMP Music Series in Soldotna, but the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce has announced that there will be a music series taking place this Summer called Music in the Park.
The Levitt Foundation confirmed their commitment to the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, pledging their support and allowing them the opportunity to roll the Levitt AMP Soldotna $25,000 grant from this summer to 2021, without the need to reapply. Also, the foundation is offering a one-time $2,500 – $5,000 gift to its communities to supplement any efforts to continue to create joyful, welcoming gatherings around music this year.
Shannon Davis, Executive Director of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, says the city is fortunate for this opportunity: “We’ve been given the opportunity to roll over the grant into 2021, which is an amazing opportunity that Levitt has given us. What that means is that in the fall, we won’t have to go out and get to the social media voting and things along those lines. So, we’ll be able to just really settle and know that we’re going to be having this series. Really, the series has already been laid out because we had our entire line-up booked already, and approved by Levitt when this happened. So, we’re going into 2021 really well-set. This year, we’re going to get to celebrate our local bands, really bringing it closer to home and to our hearts, and that feels good. It feels good for us.”
She noted that the line-up of artists is different than what the AMP Series was going to offer, allowing the city to bring back some local favorites: “Some of the criteria of the grant are that we are bringing in music that is new to the area. We can only have two repeats from the previous year, and also, they need to be playing 80% original music on-stage. But that really kind of limited the local bands that we were able to bring back, and these are the bands that helped us grow Music in the Park into what it was last year. We will be able to bring back some of the really popular bands that everybody knows and loves. Previously, we weren’t going to be able to have this year. So, Blackwater Railroad, we’re talking the Hot Mess already, The Denali Cooks, but these are people that weren’t qualified this year underneath the terms of the Levitt grant, but since we’re released from those terms, we’ll be able to have our locals on-stage and I know that our residents are just going to eat that up.”
There is no timetable for a date yet, but Ms. Davis says the plan is to be ready to get the festival going as soon as the Governor allows it: “We’re not going try to rush things. We’re going by the Governor’s mandates, and the great thing is that we’re going into it with our eyes wide-open and we’re going to be nimble. We’re going to be ready within a week. They tell us that we can go, we’re gonna have music on that stage.”
She also says that community partners have been invaluable in easing the transition from the Levitt AMP 2020 Series to Music In The Park: “I also really need to give a shout-out to Annette Filo with the Wednesday Market. She has poured her heart and her soul into that market, and I know that it has been gut-wrenching for her leading up to this time, wondering if she was going to be able to have her vendors in that park. They’re such an integral part of the entire Music in the Park experience, so it’s not just the bands on-stage, it’s also the wonderful food, beer gardens, Kenai Joe’s, Kenai River Brewing, it’s just all a partnership that we have been working closely together with Annette and the City of Soldotna and Joe Gillespie with Kenai Joe’s to make sure that this gonna happen this year. So, it’s just a real warm fuzzy feeling for us.”
In a statement, the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce says they look forward to gathering as a community, especially in Soldotna Creek Park, to celebrate the power of free, live music.
