San Francisco plans 3-day Grateful Dead anniversary concert with Dead & Company (2025)

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie wants to bring back the Dead.

On Monday, May 12, Lurie announced plans for a three-day concert to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the legendary Bay Area jam band the Grateful Dead.Pending approval by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission, — featuring surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart — will perform at Golden Gate Park’s Polo Fields on 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 mayor’s proposal will be presented to the commission on Thursday, May 15. If approved, the concerts will be produced by Another Planet Entertainment in partnership with Live Nation and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.

“From Haight-Ashbury and the Grateful Dead house to Excelsior, where Jerry Garcia grew up, the Grateful Dead is embedded in San Francisco’s history,” Lurie said in a statement. “Sixty years later, we’re still enjoying their music — and this summer, we get to enjoy the music of Dead & Company once again. The weekend will celebrate our city’s creative spirit, boost our local economy, and bring generations of fans together.

“This is more than just a concert— it’s a San Francisco homecoming.”

The concerts are expected to draw up to 60,000 attendees per day, which Lurie expects will provide a boost to the city’s hotels, restaurants and small businesses. Early projections from the mayor’s office suggest the event could generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity and support hundreds of local jobs.

The last time Weir and Hart, along with their ensemble of musician friends — guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, pianist Jeff Chimentiand drummer Jay Lane — played a three-night run in the city as the Dead & Company was at Oracle Park in July 2023, which generated $31 million in local impact, according to Destinations International’s Event Impact Calculator.

This summer’s series of shows is something of an encore. In 2015 Dead & Company celebrated the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary with the two-night “Fare Thee Well” concerts at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. 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. The group later renamed themselves Grateful Dead.

These will also be the first local performances since the death of Lesh in October 2024.

“Golden Gate Park and the Grateful Dead share a rich, intertwined history that helped shape a cultural era,” said Phil Ginsburg, Recreation and Park general manager, in a statement. “Celebrating their 60th anniversary with a Dead & Company performance in the very place where the Summer of Love took root is a powerful tribute to their legacy. These concerts not only honor their cultural impact but also shine a light on the park’s surrounding neighborhood — its restaurants, local businesses, and vibrant community.”