Main Street Fort Smith will bring music back to downtown Fort Smith with the Fall 2025 Levit AMP Fort Smith Music Series, starting in September. The 2025 series is the fifth year for the music program.
The free concert series will return to the Harry E. Kelley River Park Amphitheater for five Thursday nights this fall, with a special pop-up show at The Bakery District on Oct. 9.
This marks the fifth year bringing music to downtown, activating public spaces, engaging community partners, and showcasing the vibrancy of Fort Smith, said Amanda Hager, executive director of Main Street Fort Smith.
The music series has been made possible for the past five years because of a partnership between the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, the City of Fort Smith, the Dream Alliance Foundation, and numerous community sponsors and volunteers, Hager said.
The Fall 2025 Headliner Lineup includes:
• Sept. 25 – The Mexican Standoff, an all female Mexican American band that plays Mexican American music
• Oct. 2 – Nu-Blu, a bluegrass and Americana band from North Carolina, founded by Carolyn and Daniel Routh
• Shamarr Allen (Pop-Up Show at The Bakery District), a vocalist and trumpeter with influences in jazz, hip-hop, rock, funk rhythms, blues and country
• Oct. 16 – Carver Commodore, a rock and roll band based in Florence, Ala.
• Oct. 23 – Alto Moon, a contestant from season 22 of American Idol
Each concert is free and family-friendly and features a Kid Zone, food trucks, vendors, and community partner activations. Attendees can bring lawn chairs, picnic blankets, and their dancing shoes. Shows begin at 6 p.m. with opening acts and community spotlights, followed by headliners starting at approximately 7:15 p.m.
“This series has become a true celebration of what makes Fort Smith special … great people, great spaces, and great music,” Hager said. “We’re thrilled to offer another season of free concerts that create shared experiences and showcase the vibrancy of our downtown.”
This is the final year of the three-year grant cycle by the Mortimer and & Mimi Levitt Foundation that supported the series. In the spring, Main Street Fort Smith was worried about whether it could continue the series in the future. Because it was year three of the grant cycle there had to be a decision on whether to apply for the series in the upcoming grant cycle, Hager said.
One stumbling block was that the Dream Alliance Foundation, one of the presenting sponsors of the series, has spent down their funds and will no longer be a sponsor.
Hager said Thursday (Aug. 21) that Main Street Fort Smith decided to apply for the next grant cycle, which is 2026-2028.
“We have already applied and are waiting to hear the status of our grant application,” Hager said.
RiverBoy Foundation will partner with Main Street Fort Smith as co-grantees for the upcoming grant cycle, she said.
“This partnership will help us in terms of sharing the workload of executing the series and reaching new community partners,” Hager said.
Because the Dream Alliance is out as a sponsor, the series will look for new sponsors.
“The City of Fort Smith has also been a presenting sponsor, and we hope that they will continue to do so, but we have not approached them yet as we are waiting for our application to be accepted,” Hager said.