On a sunny Thursday afternoon in San Francisco’s Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, two dog walkers roam the central field, a gardener waters the grass, and a woman lies on a concrete slab, engrossed in her phone. It’s two weeks before the season kickoff of the city’s longest-running free concert series, the Stern Grove Festival, and Stacy Horne motions toward the slopes that border the amphitheater, “You’ll never see it this empty,” she says. When Peter Cat Recording Co. strums its first chords on June 14, there will be roughly 10,000 fans in attendance, elbow to elbow on picnic blankets.

The history of Stern Grove dates back to 1847 when Alfred Greene built a homestead on the site, his nephew planting the first eucalyptus trees. Then the Greene family built the Trocadero Inn, which still stands and is used as an operations staff center. Rosalie Meyer Stern bought the land in 1931 and named it Sigmund Stern Grove after her late husband, later donating it to the city with the intention of it being used for free events. The SF Symphony played there for the first time in 1932. 1938 marked the first official Stern Grove Festival season, and it has run continually ever since.

A view of Stern Grove in San Francisco on June 4, 2026.

Stern Grove Festival attendees sing along as Tegan and Sara perform at Stern Grove in San Francisco on Sunday, June 23, 2024.

While taking in the crisp summer air, Horne, 53, tells me about the musical trajectory that led her to become the head of programming of the Stern Grove Festival — the person who decides that Indian rock band Peter Cat Recording Co. is a great opener, Patti LaBelle is ideal counterprogramming on Outside Lands weekend, and Al Green is the perfect endnote. 

Article continues below this ad

Stacy Horne, the director of programming for the Stern Grove Festival, poses for a photo at Stern Grove in San Francisco on June 4, 2026.

“From the first show to the last, there’s sort of like a throughline that makes it feel like one complete experience rather than a random collection of shows,” Horne said.

She grew up in New Jersey, so naturally she’s a Bruce fan and attended his last Chase Center concert. During high school, she listened to the Grateful Dead. Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason tour was the first concert........

© SFGate