FortFest, a two-day blues festival at Riverfront Park this weekend, began in 2022 as a housewarming party held on the weekend of Care to Share's discontinued Fall Festival. Admission to the festival, hosted by Care to Share, is free.
The music begins at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday brings a car show, bike show, kids fair and a full lineup of music.
How FortFest began
For years, Care to Share held a kid-focused Fall Festival on the last weekend of September at Lavetta Simmons' property, according to Care to Share Vice President Cory Bryars, who organizes FortFest. Bryars said organizers announced in 2022 that there would be no more Fall Festival as Simmons began caring for grandchildren.
Bryars, who had moved to Fort Scott the year before, was planning a housewarming party featuring Kansas City blues bands. Bryars said that as more bands signed on, he decided the party should become a charity fundraiser.
A friend of his wife's with Fort Scott roots referred him to Care to Share. The party fell on the last weekend of September, when the Fall Festival had always been held, and Bryars said organizers added a kids fair to replace it.
About 500 people attended that first event in 2022 on Bryars' five-acre property on Old 54. It featured four bands along with food and craft vendors and raised $7,000 for Care to Share.
The festival later moved to Riverfront Park and added a car show and an expanded kids fair. The Rollin' Nostalgia car club of Pittsburg now organizes the car show, which is open to anyone.
In 2024, Nicole Hicks volunteered to chair the kids fair. Bryars said Care to Share had helped Hicks when one of her children was going through treatment.
"Nicole took it, and she had all the connections, and she knew how to get out to the families that had come to Fall Festival," Bryars said.
That year, Bryars estimated 450 to 500 children attended the kids fair. He said the kids fair has grown each year since, with Hicks leading it.
Cars, bikes and vendors
More than 110 cars entered last year's car show, and organizers expect more this year, weather permitting. The bike show drew 88 motorcycles in its first year in 2024, and organizers expect 80 or more this year.
The festival will also feature 30 to 40 craft vendors, five or six main food vendors and several snack vendors. Parking and shuttles are free.
Friday lineup
Friday's events include music and food vendors only. The music opens at 6 p.m. with Brody Buster, a Kansas City-area one-man band who, according to Bryars, appeared on television as a child with David Letterman and Johnny Carson.
The Kurt Allen Band, a Kansas City-area blues-rock group, performs at 8 p.m. with guest keyboardist Mike "Shinetop" Sedovic. Friday's music is scheduled to run until about 10 p.m.
Saturday lineup
The car show begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, and the bike show and kids fair begin at noon. Music starts at 1 p.m.
Kelsey Miles, a Kansas City-based one-woman band who teaches chemistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, opens Saturday's music. Haley Burke and the Hawks follow at 3 p.m.
Burke, 19, has competed at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, according to Bryars. Buster returns at 5 p.m. with a full band.
Lightnin' Malcolm of Holly Springs, Mississippi, closes the night at 7 p.m. with his full band. Drummer Kinney Kimbrough, son of blues musician Junior Kimbrough, will join him.
Bryars serves on the Kansas City Blues Society board of directors. He said the performers play major festivals across the country.
"These are known real bands playing for real people at real festivals, and that's what we are," Bryars said. "We're a real festival."
Community impact
Last year, the city of Fort Scott contracted with a marketing firm to analyze anonymized cellphone data from the festival weekend. The data showed more than 2,500 unique phones at the event, Bryars said.
Those phones stayed an average of 151 minutes. Bryars said the festival has also sold out the Courtland Hotel every year, largely with visitors from Kansas City.
The festival raised about $11,000 in 2023 and about $7,000 in 2024, according to Bryars. He said FortFest is now paid for by sponsors dedicated to the event, not by Care to Share's regular funds.
"We've morphed it from a fundraiser for Care to Share to a sponsored community outreach," Bryars said.
Bryars said admission is free so that cancer patients, who may have lost income and face added medical costs, can attend. He said the festival also keeps Care to Share in the public eye, which can lead to memorial gifts and other donations.
"It's not like, 'Hey, we need money today,'" Bryars said. "It's we just want to be present in people's minds."
About Care to Share
Established in 2007, Care to Share is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides emotional and financial support to cancer patients and their caregivers. It has received more than $1.8 million in donations from Bourbon, Crawford and Linn counties and beyond, according to the organization.
Bryars credits Care to Share co-founder Teresa "TD" Davenport with the success of FortFest. He also credits her with Care to Share's success in the community and across the region.
From Jan. 1 to June 30, Care to Share paid out more than $72,000, averaging about $12,000 a month. The organization has helped more than 125 cancer patients in 2026, including 90 in Bourbon County.
Volunteers contribute more than 5,000 hours a year. Bryars said that support also reaches patients' families, friends and co-workers.
"We're touching thousands of people by enabling these people to continue their lives," Bryars said.
People interested in volunteering can message the Care to Share or Fort Scott FortFest Facebook pages. Care to Share can also be reached at 620-644-9090.
