Mr. Hellman's Fine Spread

Each year on the first weekend in October, on one side of the City of San Francisco you have your Fleet Week ceremonies and celebrations, with their inevitable intrusions of Blue Angels all over the city's airspace , and on the other side of San Francisco, in Golden Gate Park, Mr. Waren Hellman's nice gift to the city, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which he foots the bill for like a perfect gentleman.


You can chose to go for free to Speedway or Lindley or Marx Meadow in the park this weekend, putting yourself in the near neighborhood of more good music than one ear can stand, thanks to Mr. Hellman. He's the fellow in profile with his arm resting against the spray bottle in the image above, sitting with his pals at this year's Strawberry Music Festival. He likes that kind of music, and he lavishes it on San Francisco each year.

The show runs from about noon to 7pm on five stages, and draws an enormous crowd to Golden Gate Park, as might be expected. A good portion of the crowd just won't sit down, but forms endlessy refreshed streams of strollers navigating their way between the five stages or to and from strategically placed port-a-potties or food stands, but for the most part the thousands and thousands of people who show up stake out some sedentary spot in the crowd at one stage or another and stick to it.

It's so good.