Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival a legendary gift

The annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is an event held in the spirit of Bluegrass and the musical heritage of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

The event is free and completely funded by Bay Area billionaire Bluegrass benefactor Warren Hellman.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival benefactor Warren Hellman opened the festival with 13-year-old Ruby Jane. Photo courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle.

Hellman, 75, directs the three day event for the San Francisco community.

The festival has become especially noteworthy within the Bluegrass community through Hellman’s assembly of artists that rarely appear on the same bill and assembling a diverse group of world class acts.

Reports have suggested that a crowd of up to 100,000 showed up for the festivities over the weekend, creating a diverse audience from avid Bluegrass fans to family picnickers.

Bluegrass banjo patriarchs Dr. Ralph Stanley, 81, and Earl Scruggs, 84, performed back to back on the Banjo Stage on Sunday, Oct. 3.

Following Scruggs’ act was Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, who raised the crowd to their feet after the majority had remained seated for the Bluegrass founding fathers.

The group of artists, however, was much more eclectic than a simple array of traditional Bluegrass artists. Country royalty Carlene Carter kicked off one of the five stages on Saturday and San Francisco resident MC Hammer performed his funky act Friday afternoon to kick the music off.

The festival was meticulously crafted to provide those Bluegrass lovers a chance to see all of their favorite acts without an overlap while offering several alternatives for those less concentrated on Bluegrass.

On the morning of the festival’s first day, Hellman announced on San Francisco-based KFOG’s morning show that he has endowed the festival with enough money to continue at least 15 years after his death.

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