Acoustic melodies echo from Golden Gate Park as dust from the ground wafts in the air, creating a hazy dreamscape. The first weekend of October in San Francisco can only mean one thing: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is underway.
This year marked the festival’s 26th anniversary, since its inception in 2001 by founder Warren Hellman, an investment banker and billionaire. After his death, his heirs continue to fully subsidize the festival, keeping it free and noncommercial.
An average of 500,000 or more people gather in Golden Gate Park over the three-day festival; the colorful, compact crowds scattered across the venue make it appear like a page ripped out of “Where’s Waldo?”
All of these attendees were brought together for a wide array of reasons: whether it be bluegrass music, free admission or the community it attracts.
Josephine Wheat, a biology sophomore, along with many other Cal Poly students proved the reason for their attendance is certainly not proximity.
She shared that a major motivation for her attending school in California was the ability to drive just two hours and arrive somewhere completely different.
“I mean it’s not that expensive to drive with your friends and you have people who live up here so it’s like, why wouldn’t you? Take on your weekend and make something fun out of them,” Wheat said.
Wheat gathered with her friends at the sun-stricken Banjo Stage, where Gillian Welch and David Rawlings sang in a harmonious set made up of hits like “Everything is Free,” along with covers from Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead.
While many festivalgoers may remember the highlight of their weekend as seeing performances like Gillian Welch or other artists, Wheat said her personal favorite part of the festival was, unexpectedly, the line leading into it.
When entering the festival, the incoming crowd buzzed with good energy.
“It’s really cool because you can come here and see so many different people from so many walks of life,” she said.
Spanish sophomore Amelia Ortolan stayed in her home in Half Moon Bay, California to attend the festival, and had the same positive perception of the crowd.
She compared it to other festival experiences, identifying free entry as the key distinction.
“I think it’s more of an inclusive, engaging environment, rather than just people who have money and just want to spend it,” Ortolan said. For her, not spending hundreds of dollars on tickets alleviated the pressures that can otherwise come with attending music festivals.
“It’s a more liberating experience. You don’t feel like you’re spending a ton and it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the band super well because I’m just having a fun time with my friends.”
The feeling of freedom seemed to expand into the general atmosphere of the park. Beneath all the festival happenings was a distinct sense of casualness. People attending Hardly Strictly were dressed in outfits as simple as a graphic T-shirt and flip flops or as whimsical as head-to-toe tie-dye. Many people avoided stage hopping across the park and instead opted to settle down on a blanket, not waiting for any artist in particular, but merely taking in the day.
Swan Stage, located within Lindley Meadow, offered a welcomed escape from the weekend’s blazing sun. As the day progressed, the park’s iconic eucalyptus trees cast shade across the grassy area, and people claimed the prized real estate beneath them, squeezing together like pieces of a puzzle.
Staked out there with a picnic blanket and portable chairs was Susan and her husband, Rob. The couple from Walnut Creek, California have attended Hardly Strictly around six times since its debut.
Having recently undergone knee surgery, Susan rested in her chair, avoiding the long treks across the park. Despite being attached to one of the six stages and the artists’ performing at it, Susan seemed more than content.
She spoke of her experiences at Hardly Strictly with a gleam of adoration, which conveyed that an afternoon spent at just one of its stages was worthwhile.
As a college student in St. Louis, Susan attended an annual bluegrass festival, igniting a long-time long for the music. That experience made her see Hardly Strictly as a gift from Warren Hellman.
“You can’t get this anywhere else,” she said. “It’s just such a good energy and just seeing all the people of all different ages, college students and seniors like myself. The other thing that is amazing is just how chill the crowd is. Very crowded, but it’s very mellow.”
As a retiree, Susan said free admission also made the festival accessible in a way that many concerts are not.
“I can’t go to a lot of concerts because they’re just priced out of my range, you know?” she said.
During Saturday’s closer, Old Crow Medicine Show, the crowd broke into a range of dance moves. Susan and Rob’s energy rose, seemingly feeding off those around them. Rob took Susan’s hand, and she slowly rose from her chair to dance.
Similar to Susan and Rob, Eve Reiter, a Cal Poly sophomore had been a long-time attendee of Hardly Strictly, with her first visit to the Golden Gate Park being when she was just three years old.
Growing up in Berkeley, California, she started coming to the festival with her family and has gradually transitioned into attending with friends.
She recalled her distinct memories at the festival, including attending a puppet show on Horseshoe Hill and her mom buying her “fancy” popsicles. For Reiter, these moments made the festival as much of a childhood tradition as it was a music event.
It’s true that the mix of demographics would be difficult to find anywhere else.
“Everyone is just so happy to be there,” she said. “It’s not huge internet sensation artists where people feel the need to record on their phone and post it on whatever.”
The festival also drew students in from universities in closer proximity. UC Berkeley student Noah Coles took Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into the city with friends, drawn in by the allure of free music with a one-of-a-kind crowd.
“It’s cool that we could bring all of these people together and they don’t have to pay, and we can all enjoy. We need more of this in a time where our world is so polarized,” Coles said.
How often is it now that a crowd made up of different backgrounds, beliefs, and budgets willingly come together and enjoy each other’s presence? Hardly Strictly’s appeal extended beyond the free entry; it relied on the promise of a good-natured community.
As the crowd collectively swayed and sang along to Old Crow Medicine Show’s rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” the song’s lyrics rang especially true.
The free festival made Golden Gate Park belong to everyone that weekend – along with the music and community that filled it. Beneath the towering cypress and eucalyptus trees, students, retirees, children and lifelong attendees sang side by side, drawn in not only by the promise of free music but also by the simple pleasure of being together.
