Photos from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023

Sierra Hull at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2023 – photo © Dave Berry


Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a free, three-day festival held each year at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. It was held this year over the September 29-October 1 weekend.

The festival was initiated in 2001 as a gift to the community by Warren Hellman, an extremely successful venture capitalist and lover of traditional music. It was originally titled Strictly Bluegrass, and Hellman kept the participants to that genre, but in recent years, as artists from outside bluegrass wanted to be involved, the Hardly was added to the name.

To this day, he continues to be the festival’s sole sponsor.

Dave Berry shared these images from the grassier artists on the bill.

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About the Author

Dave Berry

Dave Berry is a California based author, mandolin picker, and composer who writes the California Report column for Bluegrass Today. He grew up in the Ohio Valley right between where the Big Sandy and Big Scioto rivers dump into the Ohio. His articles, Morning Walk album, and video are available on streaming sites and his website at daveberrymusic.net