2025 Levitt Concerts Get Underway in Communities Nationwide

What better way to welcome spring than by experiencing the power of free outdoor music at one of the many Levitt music series locations across the country? As the weather warms and the days get longer, the 2025 season gets started with four communities that are finding joy and connection through free concerts featuring spectacular musical acts from around the world. 

In each of these towns or cities, acclaimed national artists will take the stage alongside emerging local acts from a wide array of genres—bringing people from all walks of life together to enjoy live music and strengthening their community bonds.  

A small Georgia town hit hard in recent months by several natural disasters, including two hurricanes and a flood, Valdosta is known for its resilient spirit. The Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series has offered solace and connection to residents impacted by these devastating events. 

“There’s still so much damage in our community,” says Sementha Mathews, Executive Director of Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, which presents the series. “But the music really means a lot. It brings people together. Everyone feels connected to the music, and then they realize how connected they are to each other, and that’s provided opportunities to communicate, heal, find help, and recover.” 

Mathews says she’s witnessed time and again the positive impact that the safe and welcoming space created by the Levitt AMP Music Series held in the Art Park in the Turner Center for the Arts campus has had on the well-being of community members since the free concerts launched in 2023. 

She adds that the town’s musical horizons have been expanded by being introduced to artists from an array of genres that most locals had perhaps been unfamiliar with before the music series began, such as the jazz-infused funk of Bassel & the Supernaturals and Venezuelan bluegrass band Larry & Joe, who will close out the spring season.  

 “With the musician lineup this year, we look forward to continuing to draw a diverse audience of people from our city and the surrounding cities in South Georgia,” Mathews says.  

The Levitt AMP Valdosta series will run every Friday evening from March 7 to May 16. 

Since 2017, the Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series in Florida has been a key part of the city’s initiatives to improve citizens’ lives through a cultural arts plan that fosters easy accessibility to the arts, breathing new life into the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreational Complex’s Webb Field—a once underused space that is now a community and cultural hub

Presented by the Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA), Levitt AMP Ocala has helped bring together the diverse community—which includes historically Black neighborhoods and a larger than average senior population—to engage in the performing arts. Stellar acts like The Mexican Standoff and The McCrary Sisters are on the schedule for this year.   

The series has also helped foster relationships with local organizations. “Through the Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series, we’ve established new community partners and strong connections with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission of Marion County and the Juneteenth Celebration Commission,” says Emily Parkman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Ocala: Cultural Arts, whose goal is to create infrastructure improvements for the West Ocala area where the series takes place. 

This year, Parkman and her team are particularly enthusiastic about several local community and nonprofit organizations providing free meals for all children attending select concerts—a new initiative spearheaded by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission—as well as a public art project in which community members will be invited to paint aluminum panels that will be used as a new awning mural for the MCA. 

The Levitt AMP Ocala series will run every Friday evening from March 14 to May 16. 

Known as an inviting and walkable city with a small-town feel that’s a cultural hub in central Texas, Waco has a musical legacy spanning both decades and genres. So it’s no surprise that a Levitt AMP music series was the perfect way to augment the city’s unique musical heritage and make it more accessible to the local Waco community. It has helped revitalize this site in East Waco, which was once a vibrant destination for the best of Black music until it was devastated by a tornado in 1953. Now the Bridge Street outdoor amphitheater offers arts programming in this previously under-resourced area, featuring diverse musical genres that have been a core part of East Waco’s identity. 

“One of the biggest impacts we’ve seen is how the series has created a space where people can connect beyond their usual circles in a really intentional way,” says Eric Linares, Events Project Manager for Creative Waco, which presents the series in partnership with the City of Waco and Keep Waco Loud. “It’s become an event where all genres, cultures and backgrounds feel welcome, and we want to continue fostering that sense of inclusivity.” 

Linares says that this year they’re looking forward to strengthening their partnership with the Waco Downtown Farmers Market to improve food accessibility for people who attend the concerts, many of whom may experience food insecurity. On the concert front, now in its third year, Levitt AMP Waco is excited to continue building on the successes of past seasons by curating music that resonates with the wider community and keeps them coming back for more.  

Several of the standout acts they’re excited to welcome this season include Phillip-Michael Scales, whose blend of blues and indie rock brings dynamic energy to the stage, and Cazayoux, a powerhouse nine-piece outfit that combines psychedelic funk, Afrobeat and jazz. 

One of the most exciting aspects of the Levitt AMP series, Linares says, is that it gives local musicians the opportunity to reach a wider audience. “For local artists, this stage has been a game-changer,” he adds. “Many have told us it was their first time performing in front of a crowd beyond their usual audience. By giving local performers the chance to share the stage with nationally touring acts, we hope to provide a stepping stone for their careers while also strengthening Waco’s music economy and making it more sustainable.” 

 The Levitt AMP Waco series will run every Wednesday evening from April 2 to May 28.  

Since 2020, the Levitt AMP Fort Smith Music Series has been bringing people together at the picturesque River Front Amphitheater on the shores of the Arkansas River—all while shining a spotlight on Fort Smith’s unique and historic downtown area in this city with a population of 90,000.  

Introducing community members to artists and musical genres they may not have sought out on their own is a highlight of the series, and this year, Levitt AMP Fort Smith will bring Native American Blues artist Cecil Gray and folk-blues luminary Ruthie Foster among many other performers to an area that’s bursting with creativity. “It really reinforces that downtown is a place where people want to be,” says Amanda Hager, Executive Director of Main Street Fort Smith, which presents the series. 

The concerts draw in people who may not have been aware of the extent of the revitalization efforts happening downtown, leaving them feeling positive and excited about belonging to a thriving community. “We want to create a space where everyone feels welcome to come together and enjoy live music without any barriers—just good vibes, great tunes, and a sense of community,” Hager says. “It’s family-friendly, ADA accessible and has plenty of free parking, so no one has to think twice about joining in.” 

This year, Main Street Fort Smith will reach even more people by partnering with community organizations such as The Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc. and other nonprofits, to get the word out. “It’s not just about putting on concerts; it’s about creating connections and making the series feel like an event for everyone,” Hager says. 

The Levitt AMP Fort Smith series takes place every week from April 3 to May 2.