Remaining concerts at Levitt Shell canceled
July 1, 2020
The remaining Levitt at the Falls concerts scheduled for August and September at the Levitt Shell have been canceled.
The board of directors announced the decision today, citing the ongoing uncertainty because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The June and July concerts were canceled in late April.
Levitt at the Falls will pivot to virtual programming and neighborhood outreach to continue to meet its mission to build community through music, the board said in a news release.
“This decision to cease our lawn concerts did not come easily, but we are grateful that our board and sponsors have maintained a strong commitment to bring music to our community safely during this difficult time,” executive director Nancy Halverson said. “We are pivoting and turning this challenge into an opportunity to continue to build our outreach, grow our digital presence and engage our community with music.”
The 2020 season, which is sponsored by Sanford Health, may look different, but music will continue. Plans include:
- Levitt In Your Neighborhood. This program will bring small pop-up concerts to neighborhoods throughout our community featuring local artists that represent a diverse selection of genres and styles. The program will kickoff July 18 in downtown Sioux Falls during Crazy Days in partnership with Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.. This fall, Levitt In Your Neighborhood will expand to include multiple day artist-in-residency programs at schools, health care facilities and other venues.
- Levitt In Your Living Room. Since this digital program premiered in May, thousands of households have enjoyed interviews and original music from artists who were set to perform on the Levitt stage this year. Levitt In Your Living Room airs on Facebook Live at 7 p.m. every Saturday. The program will continue weekly through mid-August and will be available once a month through February 2021.
The city of Sioux Falls supports Levitt at the Falls’ innovation and commitment to community outreach.
“These new virtual and neighborhood programming options will help us to further extend the mission of Levitt at the Falls to bring people together music,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said. “Through pop-up concerts, we will bring music to residents in an equitable manner across our community, including locations like the St. Francis House, health care facilities and community venues. This is a great opportunity to create vibrancy in neighborhoods across Sioux Falls.”
According to the news release, the Levitt board’s decision to pivot was guided by a commitment to the health of patrons and the community but was impacted by multiple key factors including the difficulty of implementing social distancing with large crowds in an open-access venue, lost artist routing opportunities as a result of canceled festivals across the nation and the high cost of mitigation efforts and potential last-minute cancellations because of the pandemic. The nonprofit looks forward to resuming concerts at the Levitt Shell in 2021.
More information can be found at levittsiouxfalls.org.
