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Camp Leavenworth organizers outline lineup, vendor discounts and new events for summer festival
Summary
City staff and festival organizers provided an update on Camp Leavenworth: the lineup will include several local bands and a headline act, planners are adding a pickleball tournament and food‑truck offerings, local vendors get a discounted rate and organizers are seeking sponsors and hotel partnerships.
City staff and event contractor Kelly O’Neil Wenzel updated the commission on planning for Camp Leavenworth, describing musical acts, new programming and outreach to local businesses and military families.
O’Neil Wenzel said the festival lineup will include five bands with local ties, a larger headliner act and fireworks. The presenter named local favorites including the Penny Black Band and the Rock Gods, and said the headliner will be the Gin Blossoms. She said organizers are pursuing additional musical acts and adjusting marketing to reach a broader regional audience.
Organizers are adding and testing new programming to broaden appeal. The staff update said planners are exploring a pickleball tournament (a free tournament idea that came from Leavenworth High School students), a silent disco and a revamped youth/teen footprint. The festival will continue to feature food trucks and makers; organizers said they have secured some local vendors and are offering a discount for local vendors (roughly half the standard fee) and a $50 buy‑in for craft vendors for the weekend.
Marketing and outreach plans include targeted social‑media ads (Facebook, Instagram and TikTok), digital radio buys in the Kansas City area and engagement with hotels and downtown businesses to create weekend packages and coupons for visitors. Organizers also said they plan outreach to the military community via the spouses club and the base’s orientation for incoming officers; a military flyover remains under consideration.
Organizers asked the commission and community for sponsor commitments to underwrite programming such as fireworks and the pickleball tournament. No formal council action was requested at the meeting; staff presented the update and answered commissioners’ questions.
Several commissioners and staff discussed logistics and ideas for increasing downtown participation, youth programming and methods to attract more local vendors.
If organizers secure additional sponsors and vendor participation, they said they can expand programming in future years.
