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Stern Grove Festival San Francisco: 2025 Calendar & Tips to Attend This Popular Festival
By: Jill Loeffler • Updated: May 1, 2025 • Published: May 12, 2013
This year the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco celebrates its 88th anniversary. The 2025 season runs from June 15 to August 17. This year, top performer include The Pointer Sisters, Sleater-Kinney, and Diana Ross.
Every Sunday at 2 pm during the summer months, you will find a free concert in the park. The shows usually last two to three hours and are wildly popular.
You will once again need to make reservations for entry, even though admission is still free. They changed their ticketing for 2025, which will make it much easier to request tickets.
This year, you can also pay for seating. You can either book a table for up to 10 people or you can buy a seat at a shared table.
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2025 Schedule
Here were the events and performers planned for Stern Grove 2025.
- 6/15: The California Honeydrops with The Dip (Lottery opens May 4)
- 6/22: Channel Tres with ASTU (Lottery opens May 11)
- 6/29: Sleater-Kinney with Destroy Boys (Lottery opens May 18)
- 7/6: SF Symphony with Taimane (Lottery opens May 25)
- 7/13: Phantomgram with Ha Vay (Lottery opens June 1)
- 7/20: Girl Talk Chromeo (Lottery opens June 8)
- 7/27: Orville Peck with Jaime Wyatt (Lottery opens June 15)
- 8/3: Michael Franti & Spearhead with Black London (Lottery opens June 22)
- 8/10: The Pointer Sisters (Lottery opens June 29)
- 8/16 & 8/17: The Big Picnic Weekend - Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Stephen Marley on Saturday, August 16; Diana Ross on Sunday, August 17
>> Visit their site to get tickets to upcoming performances
The Big Picnic
The Stern Grove Festival ends their season with the Big Picnic. This year, it's a two day event!
It's a great way to celebrate the last performances of this annual free concert series.
The Big Picnic is on August 16 & 17.
Samian Marley and Stephen Marley will perform on August 16. Lottery opens on July 5.
Dianna Ross will perform on August 17. Lottery opens on July 6.
More Details on Admission Options
This year, the Stern Grove Festival is changing their ticketing system. It will allow you to get tickets in a few different ways.
Lottery System
Six weeks before each concert, you will have the opportunity to enter an online lottery for a change to get tickets.
The lottery will be open for one week, so you will have plenty of time to get your name in.
They will then email you four weeks in advance to let you know if you did or did not get tickets.
You will then have one week to claim those tickets. If you don't claim them in one week, the tickets will go back into a new lottery drawing.
Community Box Offices
For the first time, they will offer first-come, first-served tickets the day before each concert. These will be at locations around San Francisco and there will be 1,000 tickets available.
These locations and other details will be available soon.
Volunteer with Stern Grove
You can help out with a show or two during the season. When you help out, you will receive a ticket to an upcoming show.
You can email them at volunteer@sterngrove.org for more details.
Partner Giveaways
Many of Stern Grove's community partners and sponsors will do free giveaways. Follow Stern Grove on social to learn more and find out when they will be doing giveaways.
Reserved Tables at Stern Grove
If you have a larger group and don't mind paying for this experience, you can also book one of their VIP or Community Tables.
The VIP Tables allow you to reserve seating for up to 10 people.
The Community Tables allow you to reserve an individual seat at a shared tables.
This new system allows for more people to pay for seating without the huge expense of only buying a table. Contact them at development@sterngrove.org for more details.
Food & Drinks at Stern Grove
Stern Grove offers food and drinks for sale before and during the event. This is their offerings:
- Tante's Concessions: They offer everything from grilled sausages to vegan dishes.
- Food Trucks: They will have a variety of food trucks this year. There will be 4 food trucks each week and the vendors will change each week. They will be found in the West Meadow.
- Bars: There are two bar locations this year. All proceeds will go directly to supporting the Stern Grove Festival.
- Bring Your Own Picnic: They also allow you to bring your own food and drinks to the festival.
What to Bring
Since these concerts are free, there are very few amenities. Here are just a few of the items you will want to bring with you.
- Blanket or Camping Chairs: You won't find chairs or other seating, so I recommend bringing along something to sit on. They allow blankets that are no larger than 5 x 7 feet. You must use low-profile lawn chairs.
- Food & Drinks: There are plenty of food options on site, but you can also bring your own to enjoy during the concerts.
- Alcohol: They will have a vendor that sells alcohol, but the park does allow you to bring your own beer and wine during the shows too.
- Warm Jackets & Clothing: Since Stern Grove is closer to the Pacific Ocean, it does get cooler here. Make sure you bring along a jacket or wear warm clothing in case the temperatures are cool during the show. You want to be prepared for the wind, fog, and even a little sunshine.
Other Things You Need to Know
Since the concerts are crowded, here are just a few other things you need to know before you arrive.
- Reservations Required: They will do this again in 2025. The system has changed this year, so make sure to read through my ticketing information second on how to get tickets.
- Arrival Time: I recommend heading over to the shows early. The gates open at 12 pm. They only allow people with advanced registration in, but you will still want to go early to grab a seat as seats are still first come/first served. I like to head over no later than 1 pm or so in order to get a good spot.
- Senior and ADA seating: It is available but it is also first come/first served, so you will want to be sure to get there as early as possible.
- Pets: No pets are allowed in this area of the park during the concerts. There are other areas open for pets, but they will not allow any within the concert seating area. Service animals are allowed.
- Personal Belongings: Make sure you keep an eye on your personal items at all times. It gets crowded (and is free!), so can attract people looking to pick up a few unattended items.
- Recording/Photography: Neither pictures nor video is permitted during the shows. I recommend leaving your camera at home or the place you are staying, so you don't have to worry about it during the performances.
More Fun Things to Do Around SF
Other Popular Festivals This Summer
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival: The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival also offers free music and other cultural programs all summer long. Performances are held several days a week between May and October. Click here for more details.
Union Street Festival: The Union Street Festival is typically the kick-off to SF's famous summer festival season. This lively event features live music, gourmet food, and dozens of merchant booths with unique arts and crafts. You will also find a premium craft beer and wine tasting pavilion. Click here to learn more.
North Beach Street Festival: Another popular SF Street Fair is the North Beach Festival. This one also features live music, amazing street food, and several fun activities for the kids. Click here to learn more about this year's festival.
Tips to Get To Stern Grove
Stern Grove Park is on the corner of 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard in the city's Outer Sunset neighborhood.
Your best bet is to take public transit, since parking is very limited in this part of the city.
From Union Square
Light Rail Trains: The fastest way to get here from Union Square is by taking either the M Ocean View or K Ingleside light rail trains. You can pick them up at the underground station at Powell and 5th Streets. Make sure you hop on an 'outbound' train.
- Stop: Take either of these to the stop at St. Francis Circle. You will then walk one block west to the park. There will be plenty of other people on these trains, so just follow the crowds.
- Timing: Allow for at least 35 to 40 minutes to get to the park.
From Fisherman's Wharf
F Streetcar: Take this streetcar to the Embarcadero Station at Market and Drumm Streets.
- Light Rail Train: Head to the underground Embarcadero Station on this corner. Take either the M or K (outbound) trains to the St. Francis Circle stop. Walk one block west to the park.
- Timing: Allow at least 50 minutes to an hour to get here from Fisherman's Wharf
Hi, I'm Jill!
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