Payomet Performing Arts Center

Payomet Performing Arts Center is an outdoor performance tent at the Highlands Center, on the former North Truro Air Force Station property. The National Park Service restricts general entry to people attending Payomet summer special-event programs, so treat this as a show-only destination, not a casual stop. Confirm the current event and entry instructions before driving out; the operator's directions take you about 500 yards up Old Dewline Road to the tent.

Inside, rows of folding chairs face a low stage beneath a high canvas roof. Payomet presents live music, theater, circus and other arts programs, and the tent layout keeps the audience close to the performers. If you want a conventional concert hall, this is a different kind of night; the simple, open-sided setup is part of the appeal.

The Highlands Center was first used for Army artillery training during World War II, then selected for radar in 1948. Two radars were installed in 1951 to feed information to air-defense command centers in Colorado and at Otis Air Force Base. In 1955, North Truro also became the support base for the Georges Shoal Tower, an offshore radar station 110 miles out in the Atlantic. The Air Force closed the station in 1985, and the National Park Service acquired the property in 1994. That history belongs to the wider campus; access is still limited to the Payomet event areas.