Dead & Company to celebrate 60 years of the Grateful Dead at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
Mayor Daniel Lurie announced on Monday, May 12, that the park will host a three-day concert in honor of the iconic Bay Area jam band, with Dead & Company performing from Aug. 1-3.
'Right here in the city that is the home of the Grateful Dead,' Lurie said. 'What better way to celebrate? We'll see you out here.'
The last time surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, along with their ensemble of musician friends — guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, pianist Jeff Chimenti, and drummer Jay Lane — played a three-night run in the city was at Oracle Park in July 2023.
San Francisco is planning to welcome @deadandcompany to Golden Gate Park for three days in August, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. Stay tuned for more details from the band coming soon! pic.twitter.com/W0EUzTxUF1
— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) May 12, 2025
This summer's series of shows is something of an encore. In 2015, Dead & Company celebrated the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary with a two-night 'Fare Thee Well' stand at Levi's Stadium. But this time, the upcoming concerts will commemorate the moment in 1965 when Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan played their first gig together as the Warlocks, later renamed the Grateful Dead.
Meanwhile, Dead & Company's Las Vegas residency, 'Dead Forever' at the Sphere, continues through.
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Summer concerts in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park mean weeks-long road closures
Plans for multiple summer concerts in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park are starting to impact people and drivers traversing the park. Mayor Daniel Lurie says people should be excited, promising it will help the city, but some people who live in the area say it's already causing headaches. Resident Gerry Knezevich was walking near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and 25th Avenue on Wednesday, an intersection that's already closed to westbound traffic. "The concerts, and stuff, the closures, really are very difficult on the people who live here," Knezevich said. This year it's longer than usual. The longest closures begin on Wednesday and last until August 20, an unfortunate surprise for Knezevich. "Nobody realized that until we got the flyers, that it was going to last so long," he explained. "It's going to cause chaos in the neighborhood with the traffic." He believes it's more difficult for people to drive and park. Some walking paths are closed, forcing him to find somewhere new to walk his dog, Ginger. During the actual events, he says concert attendees are coming and going at all times of the night, and many are under the influence. When it was just Outside Lands, he planned around it. "We leave town," Knezevich said. "We get out." But this year, with the extended closures for multiple music events, he can't do that. Daniel Montes with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks department says the closures are necessary to prepare for the events. "That's to accommodate the load in, load out for a bunch of amazing concerts that we have coming up over the next few weekends," said Montes. "Every year we work with the local community, we hold community meetings, and we hear feedback, and we always try to improve. The goal here is to minimize impact for residents." Golden Gate Park's packed summer concert season kicks off August 1 with a three-night run of Dead and Company to mark the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. That's followed by the annual Outside Lands festival the following weekend, and a one-night performance by Zach Bryan on August 15. The Golden Gate Park Concerts website features a "Neighborhood 311" page with a community hotline and email where people can reach out with any concerns, as well as a map of road closures. Lurie emphasized the value of these concerts. "This is not just about the music," said Lurie. "These events are going to generate major economic revenue for the city of San Francisco." He believes the arts and culture will drive the city's comeback. "Our bars and restaurants will be packed, our hotels booked, our neighborhood will come alive, and there will be more revenue to fund the services that benefit all San Franciscans," said Lurie. "When we make space for creativity and celebration, the whole city benefits." But people like Knezevich still aren't convinced, and are worried the month-long closure could become an annual issue. All of the closed roads and areas of Golden Gate Park will reopen after August 20.
