Empower FCU Amphitheater marks 10 years with free public celebration

A decade after opening with a promise to bring world-class entertainment to Central New York, the Empower FCU Amphitheater will open its gates free of charge and invite the public onto a stage usually reserved for touring acts, crew members and premium guests. The one-day celebration is set for Sunday, May 31, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., with backstage tours, VIP access, on-stage photo opportunities, live entertainment and interactive zone activations.

The free admission and free parking are likely to widen the audience well beyond regular ticket buyers, giving families, casual visitors and longtime concertgoers the same access to a 17,500-seat venue that has helped define Syracuse’s summer entertainment calendar. Organizers are also adding a digital passport challenge built around ten different venue zones, where guests can collect tokens and enter prize drawings for concert tickets, parking passes, recreational parks packages and other perks.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the amphitheater was opened ten years ago with a vision of bringing world-class entertainment to Central New York, and he cast the anniversary as a chance to thank the community for supporting the venue through its first decade. He also emphasized that the amphitheater is more than a concert site, pointing to the greenspace it provides for the rest of the year. That dual role, as both performance venue and open public space, has become part of the amphitheater’s identity in the county.

The anniversary celebration also offers a measure of what the venue has meant for the region’s cultural life. Beyond the headline concerts, the amphitheater has become a place where residents can gather for major events without leaving Onondaga County, keeping entertainment dollars closer to home and reinforcing Syracuse’s role in the area’s event economy. The open-house format is designed to show people the parts of the building that usually stay behind the scenes, while underscoring how a venue built for touring shows has also been folded into everyday community life.

For county leaders, the celebration is more than a milestone. It is a public check-in on whether the amphitheater has lived up to the promise made a decade ago: to bring large-scale entertainment to Central New York and give local residents a reason to claim the place as their own.