Levitt launches National Free Outdoor Concerts Month

The Levitt Family Foundation on June 1 launched National Free Outdoor Concerts Month, a new annual campaign running from June 1 through June 30 to promote free live music in public spaces across the United States. The Los Angeles-based foundation announced the effort in a PR Newswire release and tied it to the public rollout of its Free Outdoor Concerts Toolkit, a resource previously used by Levitt grantees and partners. The initiative is framed as both a public-facing attendance push and a field-building effort for nonprofits that produce concerts. Levitt says people can take part by attending shows, spreading the word online and volunteering or donating to local presenters, while nonprofits can use the toolkit for guidance on programming, marketing, volunteer engagement and operations. (prnewswire.com) ### Why did Levitt create a month around free outdoor concerts? June 1 is now the start date Levitt has designated for an annual month-long celebration of free outdoor concerts, according to the foundation’s release. Levitt says the campaign is meant to build nationwide momentum around concerts that it argues do more than present music, including activating public space and drawing neighbors, families, vendors and local nonprofits into the same setting. (prnewswire.com) The foundation’s website says free outdoor concerts can strengthen social connections, support local business activity and create what it calls “places people love.” Those claims appear in both the June 1 release and the campaign page, where Levitt describes the concerts as shared community experiences rather than stand-alone performances. (prnewswire.com) ### What exactly is Levitt offering beyond the announcement? The Free Outdoor Concerts Toolkit is the main practical deliverable attached to the launch. Levitt said on June 1 that the toolkit has long provided guidance, templates and resources to its own grantees and partners, and that making it public is intended to help other nonprofits present free outdoor concerts for what the foundation describes as positive community impact. (prnewswire.com) The toolkit, as described by Levitt, covers programming, communications, volunteer engagement and on-site operations. The foundation said releasing it publicly advances its goal of helping towns and cities present free concerts in public spaces, even beyond the organizations already in its network. ### How big is the network Levitt is pointing to? (prnewswire.com) A Levitt news post published May 29 said the inaugural month would include free Levitt concerts in more than 50 cities across the country. The post lists locations including Arlington, Texas; Austin, Texas; Batesville, Arkansas; Carson City, Nevada; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Flint, Michigan; Montgomery, Alabama; San Jose, California; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Tallahassee, Florida, among others. (prnewswire.com) A separate Levitt grant announcement published in late 2025 said the 2026 Levitt network of venues, music series locations and festival grantees would collectively present more than 900 free concerts. That release also said 66 communities received multi-year grants for the 2026-2028 cycle, with new state funding partnerships in Tennessee and Mississippi. (levitt.org) ### What is Levitt asking people to do this month? Levitt’s campaign page tells audiences to attend a concert, post about it using the hashtag #FreeOutdoorConcertsMonth and support local organizers through volunteering, donations or sponsorships. The foundation also directs users to search for concerts near them and to use its locations page to find local presenters’ websites. June 30 is the end date for the first National Free Outdoor Concerts Month. (prnewswire.com) Until then, Levitt is steering readers to its roundup of concerts in 50-plus cities, its campaign page and the newly public toolkit for nonprofits planning future free outdoor music events. (prnewswire.com) (levitt.org)