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Commission discusses Camp Leavenworth festival; staff told to explore headliner and boost downtown connections
Summary
City staff and commissioners reviewed lessons from five years of Camp Leavenworth, discussed attendance swings tied to weather and headliners, and asked staff to explore pursuing a known headliner, strengthen sponsorships and improve downtown integration and volunteer recruitment for the 2025 event.
City staff and commissioners spent the study session reviewing Camp Leavenworth's history, 2024 outcomes and planning needs for 2025, focusing discussion on whether to pursue a more prominent headliner to boost attendance and sponsorship revenue.
Penny (city staff) recapped the festival's purpose and timeline, saying the event was launched after a community advisory process starting in 2017 and adopted by the commission for a city-run signature event. Penny noted recurring objectives: enhancing the city's reputation, bringing visitors to downtown businesses and engaging military families stationed at Fort Leavenworth.
Penny reported attendance trends and program changes: a Melissa Etheridge headliner in 2021 coincided with more than 10,000 attendees that year; subsequent years saw lower attendance with weather interruptions in 2023 and 2024. Penny said 2024 introduced a petting zoo and a local talent stage, added partnership work with the Fort Leavenworth Spouses' Club, increased vendor participation and gained a notable sponsorship from Walmart. She also told commissioners the event produced roughly $230,000'$260,000 in total revenues for the city in recent years (staff said they would provide a detailed accounting on request).
Commission discussion centered on three themes: whether to pursue a national or larger regional headliner (and the multi-year lead time required), how a headliner would affect sponsorships and downtown economic spillover, and operational needs such as food-truck procurement, volunteer shortages and programming for teenagers. Commissioner comments ranged from support for pursuing a bigger name to caution about relying on 2021 and 2022 numbers given post-COVID anomalies.
The commission directed staff to explore the feasibility of pursuing a higher-profile headliner as part of a multiyear strategy and to bring estimates on likely costs and sponsorship offsets. Penny said event staff and Main Street would continue regular planning and that staff planned special meetings with the Convention and Visitors Bureau advisory board and with the Carousel Museum to better integrate downtown assets into the festival footprint. Christine Freitchen (5K event organizer) and Christy Lee (CDB manager) were named as staff points of contact for coordination.
No formal vote was taken; commissioners said they wanted early outreach if the commission's direction is to pursue a headliner because talent scheduling can run a year or more ahead.
Commissioners and staff also asked for more attendee surveys and data collection at the event to inform future decisions about headliners, vendor pricing and teen programming.
