Organizers of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival will go the virtual route for this year’s event. The free three-day livestream special entitled “Come What May” will feature a mix of 15 sets broadcast live and 12 pre-recorded performances airing via the festival’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel from October 1 – 3 with Béla Fleck, Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle among those on the lineup.
“After consultation with our team of COVID safety advisors, and in close communication with City Of San Francisco, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has reached the difficult conclusion that we are not able to hold the festival in Golden Gate Park this year,” stated the festival’s team. “We can’t waver from our mission of providing the safest and most magical musical environment, with all the care and consideration for our festivalgoers and artists, that has been at the heart of Hardly Strictly for over two decades.”
The livestream special will start at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT each day on Friday, October 1, Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3. Mavis Staples, Galactic, Ani DiFranco, Lake Street Dive, Jackie Greene and Anders Osborne are more of the acts who will take part in Come What May.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass will also launch the free, streaming app HSBTV on Friday, October 1. Available on the Apple TV and Roku platforms, the app will air last year’s Let The Music Play On virtual festival as well as Come What May sets. Additionally, the festival will host “Community Immunity” COVID-19 vaccination and testing events outside San Francisco’s Bay View Opera House on August 22 and September 12 from 12 – 4 p.m.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Come What May Virtual Festival Lineup
Andy Shauf, Ani DiFranco w/ The Hardly Strictly Lesbian Band, Bachelor, Belá Fleck “My Bluegrass Heart”, Bob Mould w/ Fred Armisen, Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole w/ Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Della Mae, Emmylou Harris, Galactic f/ Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph w/ Anders Osborne & Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Hawktail, Jackie Greene w/ Tim Bluhm, Lake Street Dive, Las Cafeteras, Mavis Staples, Meklit w/ Ambrose Akinmusire, Peter Rowan w/ Michael Kang, Rainbow Girls w/ John Craigie, Seratones w/ Alynda Segarra, Steve Earle, Terence Blanchard w/ The E-Collective & The Turtle Island String Quartet, The Soul Rebels w/ Ivan Neville, The Tallest Man On Earth
