Public Voting Competition Begins September 5 to Help Win Multi-Year Music Grant for 13 Nights on the River Concert Series

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 5, 2025

St. Helens, Ore. - The 13 Nights on the River concert series needs the St. Helens community's help to secure up to $120,000 in a multi-year grant that will support the annual summer outdoor concert series in St. Helens. The City of St. Helens and St. Helens Main Street Alliance have partnered to apply for a music grant to support the concert series, and 13 Nights on the River has advanced to the second round in the grant process: public voting. 13 Nights on the River now needs your help to move forward!

With funding from the Levitt Foundation -a national social impact funder at the intersection of music, public space, and community building that supports the largest free outdoor concert series in America-St. Helens hopes to qualify as a finalist to receive a Levitt Music Series Grant. The St. Helens community is urged to support the 13 Nights on the River proposal by participating in the public voting process, via online or text to vote, taking place from September 5-15, 2025, at levitt.org/vote.

"We know our community shows up with overwhelming community pride and supports voting events like this," said St. Helens City Administrator John Walsh. "We were successful with the Moda Assist funding for an all-abilities playground at McCormick Park in 2020 thanks to our amazing community. Now let's show the rest of the United States what St. Helens can do and make 13 Nights on the River a winner."

Levitt Music Series Grants are an exciting, multi-year matching grant created by the Levitt Foundation to bring the joy of free outdoor concerts to towns and cities across the country. For the 2026-2028 grant cycle, the Levitt Foundation will award U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits up to $120,000 over three years (up to $40,000 per year), to produce their own Levitt Music Series-7-10 free outdoor concerts annually featuring a diverse lineup of music genres with professional musicians, activating an underused public space, creating a vibrant, inclusive community destination for people of all ages and backgrounds.

St. Helens Main Street Alliance submitted the proposal in partnership with the City of St. Helens to support the 13 Nights on the River free music series in Columbia View Park.

"Downtown St. Helens has always been where people come together in our community, from the courthouse steps to the riverfront celebrations," said St. Helens Main Street Alliance President Erin Salisbury. "With support from the Levitt Foundation, we can carry that legacy forward through even more live music, building traditions today that future generations will remember as part of our city's story. This is YOUR 13 Nights on the River in YOUR downtown."

Online public voting opens September 5 at 10 a.m. and ends September 15 at 5 p.m. The St. Helens proposal is now posted on the Levitt Foundation website, where the public can vote and learn more about the proposals from across the country that have advanced to the voting phase. An individual may submit one vote for up to five proposals of their choosing. There are two easy ways for the public to cast their vote: online at levitt.org/vote (look for the St. Helens Main Street Alliance entry or search "St. Helens") or via text to 877-409-5525 with keyword STHELENS . It is important to enter the keyword exactly as it appears: all one word, with no spaces and no punctuation. Be sure to double-check the keyword before sending your text. If you are voting via text, you will receive confirmation via text if you have voted successfully. No confirmation text equals no vote! Any votes cast before 10 a.m. on September 5 will not be counted, so be sure to wait until after 10 a.m. on September 5 to vote.

Reflecting the Levitt Foundation's mission that all Levitt projects are community-driven, the public voting phase of the Levitt Music Series Grants selection process is an important way to measure community support. The number of online and text votes received for St. Helens will be one of the key factors used when the Levitt Foundation determines the grant recipients this November.

The 50 finalists will be selected through the online and text-to-vote public voting phase. The Levitt Foundation will then review the top proposals to select the Levitt Music Series Grants recipients, which will be announced on November 18, 2025.

Spread the word throughout the community to family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors and rally the community to vote for St. Helens Main Street Alliance's 13 Nights on the River proposal. Anyone can vote, including people who live outside St. Helens, so please share this with everyone you know. Support for the 13 Nights on the River concert series helps keep St. Helens a great community, enhancing the St. Helens Riverfront District with free community events and supporting locally-owned businesses.

Learn more at levitt.org/vote .

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For further information regarding the 13 Nights on the River Levitt Foundation grant, please contact Communications Officer Crystal King at [email protected] .

About the Levitt Foundation

The Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation that exists to strengthen the social fabric of America. The Foundation supports changemakers and nonprofits across the country to activate underused public spaces through free outdoor concerts, creating welcoming, joyful, and inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together, fosters belonging and social connections, creates economic opportunity, and invigorates community life. Levitt venues and concert sites attract people of all ages and backgrounds and reflect the character of their town or city, while benefitting from the framework and best practices of the Levitt program.

In 2025, Levitt Foundation grantees are presenting 650+ free concerts in more than 50 towns and cities across the country, with a total audience of nearly one million people. In addition to funding free concerts, the Levitt Foundation supports advancing vibrant music ecosystems through research and partnerships. www.levitt.org