Freeman Arts in Delaware teases new $43M stage James Taylor will use

The new $43-million Freeman Arts Pavilion will host a sold-out James Taylor show in its debut season.
Upgrades to the facility, including a larger stage and better artist amenities, should help to attract more major acts.
The venue now features a 4,000-seat capacity with stadium-style seating and a spacious lawn area.

The new and expansive $43 million Freeman Arts Pavilion facility near Selbyville has caught the attention of singer-songwriter James Taylor, who will debut there in a sold-out show in late summer.

Michelle Freeman, president and chairman of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, said having a larger and more spacious facility is now easier to attract stars like the six-time Grammy winner Taylor, who will soon be joined with his All-Star Band for the Freeman Arts’ 19th annual entertainment season.

The Freeman Arts has had Taylor on the wish list for ages and he’ll finally grace the stage in the pavilion’s 2026 concert season that debuts the new facility, which features up to 4,000 seats, when it opens with Italian singer Matteo Bocelli on June 8. Taylor’s concert is scheduled for Sept. 9.

Highlights for the Freeman Arts’ 2026 season already include music stars Cole Swindell, Trombone Shorty and Little Big Town.

New Freeman Arts Pavilion stage can draw stars like James Taylor

The president didn’t give a percentage of how many more notable acts she expects to draw to the venue now that its facilities have been upgraded, including a revamped green room that’s no longer backstage in a trailer. But she did say attracting popular bands like The Lumineers is now more realistic.

“We could accommodate a band like that where before it would … be harder, and you were asking people to like be in tents and be in trailers,” Freeman told Delaware Online/The News Journal during a media tour of the new facility on July 6.

She added, “I think that artists took a risk, and I mean they’d have a great time, and the crowd was fantastic, but you know, it was an ‘ask.'”

Freeman Arts Pavilion will finally show off its 4,000 seats in Delaware

The new Freeman Arts facility features a capacity of 4,000 seats with a more spacious performance stage, two larger screens on the stage, and stadium-style seating compared with the previously flat layout.

The lawn area is located at the top row of the stadium-style seating and can host about 1,300 revelers there. That area is also Americans With Disabilities Act-accessible with ramps on each side.

Alyson Cunningham, spokesperson for the Freeman Arts Pavilion, said the venue has officially been able to host 4,000 guests since 2021 but has internationally limited attendance by roughly 3,600 so that they could unveil full capacity during the new stage’s debut season.

Fans of Freeman Arts Pavilion love the new seating style

Freeman Arts member Susan Henicle of Bayside in Selbyville was part of a large group of fans that toured the new-and-improved facility July 6.

Henicle looks forward to seeing shows featuring Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town, especially now that the venue offers elevated seating.

“To have the seats and the terrace levels the way they are, we’ll be able to see all the performers and hear everything,” she said. “It’s gonna be great.”

Freeman Arts sponsors Sloane Fish and her mom, Susan Drapkin, both of Frankford, were also in the crowd with Henickle that toured the new facility July 6. The mother and daughter were impressed with the new stage.

“It looks like every seat is going to have an amazing view,” Fish said, before adding she’s pumped to see Little Big Town, Trombone Shorty (whom she aims to see every year he plays there) and the Indigo Girls.

James Taylor has been on dream list for Freeman Arts stage for years

Fish’s mama is eager to see Grammy guru James Taylor at his sold-out show in the new facility.

“It’s beautiful and very, very state of the art,” Drapkin said.

Patti Grimes, the outgoing executive director who has been with the Freeman Arts Pavilion since it began in 2008, said Taylor has long been a fan favorite that supporters have had on their wish list.

“Every year James Taylor, by leaps and bounds, is the largest like recommendation,” Grimes said. “It’s … only fitting that the world will come together 1783460163 that he said ‘yes’ to the Freeman Arts Pavilion.”