By Katherine Hatcher | Staff Writer
A new Waco event in town is disproving the idea that “nothing is free anymore.”
The 2024 Levitt AMP Waco Music Series held its first concert on Sept. 4, where the community listened to free live music in an open arena, shopped at the farmers market and tried local food trucks.
Levitt Amp Waco and Creative Waco are back to continue their third year of putting on the music series. After Wonderlove events joined their partnership last year, they have added the Waco Downtown Farmers Market to their list of collaborators. The festival will have four more weeks of free concerts from 5-9 p.m. Wednesdays along “Waco’s Front Porch,” Bridge Street Plaza. Every concert celebrates a different music genre, with this year’s lineup including rock, blues, gospel, pop, hip-hop, latin and more.
The purpose of Levitt AMP, a grant program, is to build community through free, live music while utilizing underused public spaces, which partners well with Creative Waco’s goal to create a thriving cultural community in Waco.
Tneyah Thomas, community outreach coordinator at Creative Waco, said that the cultural nonprofit is honored to be able to partner with Levitt Amp and offer something free and fun to do that is inclusive, making everyone feel welcome.
“You could be at your house, on the couch, getting entertainment in the form of TV,” Thomas said. “Or you could be in an outdoor living room, getting the form of entertainment of a live performance.”
Thomas said that it is amazing to partner with Levitt Amp because they can pay the artists, staff and everyone else involved in the project, making it worth the amount of hours that everyone puts into the series.
“Not a lot of festivals are free, but there’s just something about being able to come and bring your grandma, your family, your friends,” Thomas said.
In order to involve the community as much as possible, Thomas said that nominations are taken for artist lineups every time the music series occurs. Performers on Sept. 4 actually included a group of students from Baylor.
Thomas said she saw firsthand how the music series can help attendees feel like a part of something special — specifically in her young niece, who Thomas brought to one of the concerts in the spring.
“You know, kids don’t lie,” Thomas said. “They will tell you if it’s boring, they’ll tell you straight up, but she said that this event made her want to move to Waco.”
Eric Linares, Creative Waco’s project manager overseeing the music series, said that the festival is special because it creates a sense of safety in community for all who attend.
“Kids can run around and have a good time, families can sit down, adults can hang out and have a blast listening to music,” Linares said. “It’s an all communities, all ages opportunity to just come together.”
Thomas said that the festival not only creates community, but also offers opportunities for performers, vendors and other businesses.
Husband and wife Evin and Laura Price, co-owners of WonderLove Events, agreed that they were thankful to be able to partner with Creative Waco and Levitt Amp to bring people together.
“Partnering with Creative Waco and Levitt, it literally just coincides with our mission,” Evin said. “What we want to do is to just bring everybody together: all ages, all races, all economic discriminations, and put us all on one playing field to be childlike and enjoy good food.”
WonderLove was able to partner with Creative Waco and Levitt Amp to help put together the musical festival last year as well. Laura said that as they grow their own business, they have been able to learn a lot through that partnership.
“We now throw our own events, and all of our events, we partner with a non-profit, so partnering with creative Waco and Eric has been a blessing for us to be able to do even more with WonderLove than we wanted to,” Lauren said.
Thomas said if any students, or anyone in the community wants to reach out to help with the music series in the future, they should not hesitate. Prospective volunteers can find more information by emailing info@creativewaco.org, and artists can join the nonprofit’s creative directory for free in order to connect with potential audiences for upcoming events.
