The 19th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is a gift to the city by the late financier and philanthropist Warren Hellman. This year it will feature 80+ eclectic performances on six stages placed on the west end of Golden Gate Park.
The full lineup for this year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass includes Judy Collins, Bill Frisell, Grace Potter, Fantastic Negrito, Michael Nesmith & the First National Band, and Shooter Jennings. These additions join an already robust bill for the free three-day concert at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 4-6. Among the previously announced acts are Robert Plant, Tanya Tucker, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Betty LaVette, the Meat Puppets, Hayes Carll, Buddy Miller, Margo Price, Steve Earle & the Dukes, the Waterboys, Jackie Greene, the Milk Carton Kids, Calexico and Iron & Wine, Joan Osborne, Robert Earl Keen, the Punch Brothers, the New Pornographers, the Budos Band, Moonalice, the Go to Hell Man Band, Jon Langford, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Nancy & the Lambchops, Mercury Rev, Beth Orton, and perennial festival closer Emmylou Harris.
Along with the final round of lineup additions, organizers also announced new security measures for this year’s festival, including a ban on coolers and standard backpacks, fencing around the perimeter with limited entry points and increased police presence.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2019: Noon-7 p.m. Oct. 4; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 5-6. Free. Hellman Hollow, Marx and Lindley meadows in Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com