Hardly Strictly Bluegrass brings sunburns, surprises, and singalongs

If you came to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024 expecting a casual stroll, surprise! Those 8 miles between stages felt more like a marathon.

From Patti Smith packing Lindley Meadow tighter than blackberry bushes, to a toe-tapping mosh pit erupting during The Infamous Stringdusters’ bluegrass rendition of “Just Like Heaven,” this year’s festival was equal parts folk and fun.

The fashion leaned hard into the boho-western vibe. Straw hats? Check. Cowboy hats? Double check. It felt like everyone took the opportunity to dust off their best western wear, blending “hardly” and “strictly” with ease. Think: boho chic meets “hardly strictly cowboy.” For those of us who didn’t pack sunscreen, hats were a saving grace, perhaps the only one because omg it was hot. Right?

Navigating the festival felt like a treasure hunt, weaving through jugglers, baby strollers, doggie strollers, and leopard prints. Everywhere you looked there was some sort of carnival for the eyeballs:

Steve Earle, alongside Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, lit up the Banjo Stage with their golden tones at sunset, closing Saturday night with a singalong of “This Land is Your Land.” Earle made sure to remind everyone that this year’s election is too important to skip out on, merging his music with a call to action that got the crowd rallying.

The weekend’s highlight reel wasn’t complete until Sunday, when The Infamous Stringdusters delivered a bluegrass twist on The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” sending the crowd into a semi-dosey doe mosh pit.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass began as Warren Hellman’s contribution to San Francisco — a free, no-strings-attached festival in Golden Gate Park. Since its inception in 2001, it has morphed into one of the city’s biggest free annual events.

The festival’s evolution may have expanded its reach, but it delivered the same unpretentious, no-strings-attached experience this year. If only the sun hadn’t cranked up the heat, the festival might have felt less like a workout. But we still smiled, sweated, and sang, because nothing was going to cool down the spirit of Hardly Strictly.

All photos by Denise Cottin, who is a San Francisco-based photographer and contributor to The Bold Italic.

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