🎶🌳 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass & Picnic in Golden Gate Park! 🌁 🎶🌟

🎶🌳 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass: Music, Dancing & Picnicking in Golden Gate Park

It’s back! Hardly Strictly Bluegrass for the 25th year, San Francisco’s legendary FREE music festival returns to Golden Gate Park with three days of incredible live music.

New Beginnings is heading to the festival on Saturday, October 3, for an easygoing day of music, dancing, wandering, picnicking, and hanging out with friends among the seven stages at Hellman Hollow, Lindley Meadow, and Marx Meadow.

📅 Saturday, October 3
New Beginnings meetup window: 11:00 AM–3:00 PM
Festival Hours: Come earlier and/or stay later if you like! (runs all day from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM)
🎶 Music Starts: 11:00 AM
🎤 Meetup Host: Leah
🎟️ FREE — no festival ticket required
🎵 RSVP NOW — DETAILS ARE COMING!

We already know which artists are playing Saturday, but HSB won't release the stage-by-stage performance schedule until September 22, with the printable schedule available September 23.

That means we don't yet know exactly where we'll start our day or which performances we'll target together—and that's okay!

RSVP YES now and stay tuned. The festival is completely free, and our plans will take shape once HSB releases the schedule. RSVP now so you'll receive our updates about where to meet, which performances we're targeting, and how to reconnect with the group during the day.

👉 Check out the Saturday artist lineup posted in the event Photos (below).

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🎶 HOW OUR DAY WILL WORK

This will be a loose, flexible Meetup, not four hours of everyone staying together.

There’s no expectation that we’ll all stay together. Follow the music that interests you, wander between stages, and use our meetup times and group texts to find us when you want to reconnect.

Once the full schedule is released, we'll choose:

🎸 An 11:00 AM starting point
💃 A few especially fun or danceable performances where some of us may gather
🧺 A 12:30–1:30 PM lunch and hangout spot, where the group can gather. Leah will be there for the hour with the sparkly streamers, so everyone knows where to find the group
🎵 Possibly another performance or two where people can reconnect later

Want to hear a different band? Go for it! Part of the fun of Hardly Strictly is wandering through the park, discovering new music, and creating your own festival experience.

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📱 WANT TO FIND THE GROUP DURING THE DAY?

After you RSVP, text Leah at 415.309.1162 and say:
“Please add me to the HSB text list.”

We'll use the group text on festival day to share things like “We're heading to the ___ Stage” or “We're sitting near ___ if anyone wants to join us.”

That way you can split off, explore, and still find New Beginnings friends later.

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🧺 LUNCH, FOOD & WHAT TO BRING

We'll plan to reconnect for lunch from approximately 12:30–1:30 PM. Bring your own picnic if you'd like or explore the festival's huge variety of food and beverage vendors, with everything from Nepalese dumplings and Vietnamese noodles to Jamaican, Ghanaian, Mexican, Mediterranean, pizza, burgers, ice cream and more.

Bring a blanket or low beach-style chair but choose something you're comfortable carrying. We expect to move around during the day rather than establishing one permanent New Beginnings campsite.

Also recommended:

✅ Refillable water bottle
✅ Sunscreen and hat
✅ Layers — this is San Francisco!
✅ Comfortable walking shoes
✅ Binoculars (if you have them to spot the streamers or see bands up close)
✅ A portable phone charger if you have one

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🚗 GETTING THERE

Public transportation is strongly recommended. Parking anywhere near Hardly Strictly Bluegrass can be extremely difficult, crowded and expensive.

Consider taking BART, Caltrain and Muni, depending on where you're coming from. Changes to Muni service for HSB.

Another option is to park well away from Golden Gate Park and take Uber, Lyft, Waymo or public transit to the festival. Trying to park close to the festival adds a lot of unnecessary stress to an otherwise fun day.

Festival entrances open at 9:00 AM on Saturday, so you're welcome to arrive well before our 11:00 AM Meetup to enjoy the festivities and snag a spot before the music begins at 11:00 AM.

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🌳 A FEW FESTIVAL BASICS

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass takes place over three days—Friday, Saturday and Sunday—so enjoy as much of the festival weekend as you'd like.

If you've always wanted to experience HSB, haven't been in a while, or would simply enjoy discovering great music with other New Beginnings friends, Saturday is a great day to jump in.

Before coming, please review the festival's current FAQ and rules about what may and may not be brought into the festival. Security screening is in place at festival entrances.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival FAQ:
https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/info-faq-2026/

2026 Food & Drink:
https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2026-food-and-drink/

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🎶 Come for the music. Dance when the spirit moves you. Wander when other stages as you like. Meet us for lunch. Find us again later.

That's the plan—or at least as much of a plan as we have now for the festival. 🌳🎸🧺💃🕺

👉 RSVP YES now and watch for our update after the full schedule is released September 22–23.

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🔷 See our Group Guidelines HERE

🔴 Supporting Fun, Friendship and Community in 2026
As a volunteer-led group, member contributions help cover Meetup fees and the occasional venue rental that make our gatherings possible. If you haven’t contributed in 2026, we invite you to give a $20 annual cash contribution (with your name) directly to the event host. (Contributions are not tax-deductible.) See our 2026 contributor list. New here? Enjoy a couple of events first — then pitch in if it feels like a good fit!

🔴 Liability Reminder
By participating in any New Beginnings Social Event, you and your guests RELEASE and DISCHARGE the organizers, hosts, and fellow participants from all liability for injuries, illness, damages, death, issues relating to privacy or economic loss arising from activities, advice, or information provided. Participation is voluntary and entirely at your own risk. You are responsible for your safety, belongings, and transportation decisions. Choose carpool drivers carefully and consider leaving valuables at home.