SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — In spite of Thursday night’s threatening weather, 5,300 fans turned out to see local fan favorite Kory & The Fireflies perform on the Levitt at the Falls stage.
Yet, overall attendance at the downtown free music venue is still lagging behind last year.
But the Levitt staff is optimistic the numbers will bounce back for the rest of the summer.
The Fourth of July concert by Kory & The Fireflies marked a musical milestone for Levitt at the Falls.
“This is the first time in our six-year history that we’ve had it fall on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. And so being able to intentionally work towards building that program into something the community could celebrate together was a lot of fun,” Levitt at the Falls Vice-President of Programming Rose Ann Hofland said.
But while the calendar cooperated this year, the weather has not. Three Levitt events have already been canceled this season. And of the 17 concerts so far this season, all but five of them, including Thursday’s, were touch-and-go, for a time.
“So it’s been challenging, it’s kept the crowds down a little bit. On average, the nights that we’ve been able to go, we’ve had great crowds. But just overall, by having to subtract some of those nights, it’s been rough,” Levitt at the Falls Executive Director Nancy Halverson said.
Levitt leadership is hoping that the worst of the summer storms are behind us and that the remaining schedule will be free of weather-related interruptions.
“As I look ahead at all the weather trends, it looks like it’s going to be drying out,” Halverson said. “And so we really hope that we’ll be able to have smoother sailing through the rest of the season. We’ve got some incredible bands on the horizon, so we’re looking forward to the rest of the summer.”
This year’s attendance is down 7,500 from the same time a year ago. But with only one-third of the summer’s concerts complete, there’s still plenty of time for music fans to fill the Levitt lawn each week and ensure a strong finale to the season.
Levitt concerts have drawn 29,750 people this season. That compares with 37,270 from a year ago.
Friday night’s headliner is The Foxies, an indie-rock group who performed here a couple of years ago… in the rain.
