By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–From the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s blues to Argentine tango to the funk band Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts presented another season of eclectic performances this year. 

The run of 56 free shows and 13 paid events was described by Carleigh Welsh, vice president and executive producer of the popular outdoor venue, at a meeting of the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts Committee last month.

Events included local favorite bands, Argentine tango night, an all-women salsa band, three comedy nights, the Connecticut ballet, DJ Rekha’s Bollywood Disco – the Pride Edition and more.

“(It) just represented an incredible opportunity for the Levitt Pavilion to bring together so many different people from so many different backgrounds and cross-pollinate musical styles and audiences and artists alike, and really keep weaving the fabric of our community together,” Welsh said.

Established in 1973, the Pavilion’s aim is to provide free access to performing arts, support artists and “cultivate a premier cultural hub and outdoor community destination where people of all ages and backgrounds are always welcome and encouraged to get to know the arts, nature, and each other,” according to its website. Located on the Saugatuck River at 40 Jesup Road, it was overhauled in 2014 with a $9.5 million upgrade.

At the meeting, Welsh also reviewed tax forms for the Pavilion, which show that it ran at a deficit of $214,889 in 2024 and $240,853 the year before. Welsh said, however, that the deficits followed two years of surpluses. 

In last year’s “otherwise successful, critically acclaimed season,” the Pavilion faced unexpected 

costs, including for maintenance, increases in vendor’s costs and disruption caused by impacts from Hurricane Debby, which later became a tropical storm, in August of that year.

Welsh and Charles Haberstroh, chairman of the town’s Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts Committee, said it is natural to show deficits some years and surpluses at other times.

A highlight of the 2025 season was the Grammy Award-winning blues-rock Tedeschi Trucks Band, which played at the annual gala on Sept. 14.

“It was one of the largest, most acclaimed bands that we’ve presented, and it brought in an entirely incredible and new dynamic and new group of fans into this perennial event,” Welsh said.

Near the beginning of the season, the Staples High School annual Westport Pops concert was forced to change venue from the Pavilion to the high school auditorium by the threat of rain. Welsh said next year’s date at the Pavilion is “written in pen on our calendar,” although it hasn’t been made public.

“Just know that we’re lighting a little good-weather candle already,” she said.

Other shows met with better fortune, including Artemis, which Welsh described as “an extraordinary all-women jazz group,” as Welsh described them, who played on June 29.

“Last year when we had them, we had to cancel them because of rain about eight bars into their show,” Welsh said. “So we were delighted to get them here this year and have beautiful clear weather.”

The season also marked the return of The Wood Brothers, a band the Levitt Pavilion had showcased earlier in its career with a free show around 2012. The band’s stature has grown, and it returned for a paid concert this year.

“They’re on an entirely different level,” Welsh said.

Haberstroh praised the Pavilion for its season and its contribution to the region’s culture. 

“It’s all terrific,” he said. “Westport and the surrounding towns benefit greatly from the cultural infusion that the shows bring.”

Welsh also discussed the venue’s handling of noise concerns from neighboring sections of town, noting that they had received complaints for nine of the 69 total outdoor shows. The venue offers a “sound hotline” that people can call during an event so that sound can be adjusted in real time, Welsh said.

Welsh thanked the town Department of Public Works and the Parks and Recreation crews, which maintained the lawn.

“It’s a beautiful lawn, and it is trampled and danced on by so many different bare feet, sandaled feet, high-heeled feet (and) sneakers…from day one to day 70 of the season,” she said. “It takes a beating and (the workers) are undeterred in their determination to continually help it bounce back.”

For the September gala, she said, “they took just incredible action to get some new grass growing, you would have thought it was June,” Welsh said. “By the time we opened we had our gala with Tedeschi Trucks Band and that’s a huge night where we have a sold-out show. We want everything to be perfect, and it was.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}