Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is as San Franciscan as wearing a flower in your hair or sittin' on the dock of the bay. The free, three-day music festival, held annually in Golden Gate Park, is a gift from Warren Hellman, the founder of a multi-billion dollar equity firm and — as you might have guessed — a huge fan of bluegrass. For the last 15 years, the diverse music festival has drawn just about every subsection of the San Francisco community to what's now called Hellman's Hollow (renamed in the festival founder's honor).
Other (for-profit) festivals held in Golden Gate Park can cost fans hundreds of dollars — some serious coin in a city where toast is $4 and rent is getting higher than any of the youths headed to these communal gatherings. So maybe, unlike that one girl on your Instagram, you can't afford to go to every single one of these events. But thanks to Hellman anyone is welcome at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass — and that's worth #celebrating.
So we picked nine acts to spotlight. The lineup is so stacked this year we could have picked 50, but we also wanted to go down to the park to see just how these frequent music festivals affect the homeless who live in the park year-round. So read on, and see you at the festival (we're the one with the notepad next to the guy with a giant eggplant emoji totem).
Public Grounds
By Kyle DaSilva
HSBG Preview: Ben Miller Band
By J. Poet
HSBG Preview: Pokey LaFarge
By Sam Prestianni
HSBG Preview: Flogging Molly
By David Pehling
HSBG Preview: Chicano Batman
By Gary Moskowitz
HSBG Preview: Monophonics
By David Pehling
HSBG Preview: Gillian Welch
By J. Poet
HSBG Preview: Asleep at the Wheel
By J. Poet
HSBG Preview: Paul Weller
By Tom Lanham
HSBG Preview: Charles Bradley
By Zack Ruskin
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