Stern Grove Festival Shifts to Lottery for Ticket Distribution
Big Crowds. Big Names. Big Changes for Stern Grove.
According to the organizers, it costs a whopping $3 million a year to produce the Stern Grove Festival event season, which takes place in a peaceful eucalyptus grove planted about 177 years ago. Despite that, tickets are completely free.
This year, tickets will be distributed on a lottery system for the first time ever, and this is REALLY GOOD NEWS for anyone lazy, offline, or into procrastinating.
Who Runs Stern Grove Festival?
Unlike most nonprofits, the festival management has stayed in one family for five generations. The current board chair is a twin named Matthew W. Goldman, and his LinkedIn bio is “co-founder of Evil Twin Capital.” Matthew’s twin brother Jason is vice-chair.
Don’t worry, even though they’re related to the Levi’s jeans family like the mayor, the twins haven’t done anything stupid like running for office yet so we’ll hold off on the ribbing. Besides, “Denim Matthew” just doesn’t roll off the tongue like “Denim Dan.”
The executive director, Bob Fiedler, hails from Chicago and has been in charge of operations since May of 2017. He’s kept the festival going ever since.
How big is Stern Grove?
The estimated annual attendance over the summer season is around 90,000. That’s pretty impressive, and the reason so many attend is because it’s free. But they also bring high quality acts to the stage and they do it well.
It’s gone off largely without any major hiccups. Well, in 2021 a poorly maintained SFPUC pipe burst and flooded out the venue, forcing the cancellation of a much-anticipated Too $hort and Tower of Power show. But other than that, they manage the event pretty well.
Other than that, the biggest shakeup has been the reservation system, which began in 2021. It’s been a little complicated for attendees, with tickets often disappearing before the more free-flowing among us could get our hands on some. Which is why it’s great that they’re shaking things up once more!
Will It Ever Go Back to Ticketless?
For 88 years,* San Franciscans have enjoyed the free outdoor Stern Grove Festival. For the bulk of that time, you didn’t need a ticket. What’s changed?
*The press release says 88 but their website says 87. Either way it’s been around longer than any other nonprofit music festival in the country.
There’s no chance of things going back to the way they were. The organizers explain, “In order to obtain the permits and insurance necessary to bring you free, live music at Stern Grove, we are required to implement crowd management processes and patron safety scans. These requirements come from multiple entities, including the artists themselves.”
What Will Be Different?
Safety is a pretty good reason to turn into a ticketed event, but the reservation system favored people with the fastest internet and/or fastest thumbs. Now the new lottery system will let distribution be a matter of luck.
“With demand for tickets growing every year, we wanted to make it easier and more equitable for all fans to experience Stern Grove Festival,” says Bob Fiedler, Executive Director of Stern Grove Festival. “This new system ensures that everyone has a fair shot at attending their favorite shows—without the stress of racing to claim tickets online on the day that they were released. Now, people will have two weeks to apply at their leisure and then also other ways to obtain tickets if they don’t win the lottery.”
The lineup drops Tuesday, April 8 at 10am. If you see any names you’re really excited about, our suggestion is to sign up for their newsletter and circle the date in the chart when the lottery opens. Put it in your calendar. Signing up for it early doesn’t mean you’re more likely to win, but fortune favors the prepared. You can’t win if you don’t even get your name in the hat! Good luck and jam on, San Francisco.
Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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