Hardly Strictly Bluegrass announces set times and stage line-ups
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Tuesday announced the set times and line-up for each stage during the three-day festival.
The festival, which takes place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, is built around the theme of coming "Back to the Park" after two years of virtual festivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the 20th edition of the full in-person festival in Golden Gate Park.
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After releasing the breakdown of which artists were playing which day last week, organizers on Tuesday announced the full schedule for the festival with stage line-ups and set times. As with past years, the Friday line-up kicks off at 1 p.m. and features performers on four stages: the smaller Bandwagon Stage, the main Banjo Stage in Hellman Hollow and the back-to-back Swan Stage and Towers of Gold Stage at the western end of Lindley Meadow. The latter two stages will be livestreamed throughout the weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday, the entertainment begins at 11 a.m. with two more performance areas presenting artists (the Rooster Stage and the Porch Stage). While there are, as always some difficult choices presented by the schedule -- Friday's Banjo Stage headliners the Drive-By Truckers start their set at the same time as rising honky-tonk singer Charley Crockett, for instance -- the wealth of talent being presented means there really are no bad decisions for attendees.
The multi-stage dayslong festival has expanded from its beginning as a local single-day event when it was founded by investment banker and philanthropist Warren Hellman over two decades ago. Hellman intended for the annual event, which is free to the public, to be a gift to San Francisco, celebrating American music.
The 2020 digital event, "Let The Music Play On," featured a three-hour broadcast that generated more than 1 million views. The "Come What May" festival in 2021 was also virtual, showing performances filmed in both New Orleans and San Francisco. Both digital festivals can still be viewed online.
The festival, while open to the public, will feature perimeter fencing with security screening at each entrance for safety purposes. Hard-sided coolers will not be allowed. Additional information on restricted items is available at on the HSB FAQ/info page.
Event organizers encourage all attendees to be fully vaccinated and to test negative prior to the festival, with masks being encouraged whenever not eating or drinking. More details about the festival can be found on the official HSB website.