Hardly Strictly Bluegrass adds a fourth round of acts to its 2026 festival

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has announced a fourth round of performers for its 2026 edition, the free festival that takes over Golden Gate Park in San Francisco from October 2 to 4.

The new names are Miko Marks, Alison Brown, Crosby Collective, Fantastic Cat, The Record Company, Tony Kamel and Kym Warner, Wreckless Strangers, Steve Poltz, The Third Mind, and Martha Scanlan with Jon Neufeld.

They join a bill already led by Steve Earle, My Morning Jacket and Alison Krauss and Union Station with Jerry Douglas, with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Mavis Staples, Lukas Nelson, Los Lobos, Old Crow Medicine Show, Molly Tuttle, Jesse Welles, Sierra Hull, Hiss Golden Messenger, Marty Stuart, AJ Lee and Blue Summit and Kathleen Edwards also set to play.

Miko Marks, who lives across the bay in Oakland, is coming back after a first appearance two years ago. "It's been a longtime dream of mine to play HSB, and that dream came true in 2024," she said in a press release, describing a weekend spent with fans and other artists rather than a set and an exit.

The festival has run free for more than 25 years, which is the detail that makes the booking possible: a bill this deep with no ticket price attached is not a normal arrangement for an event of this size.

Organisers say more performers will be announced. The dates and the growing lineup are tracked on the festival tracker, alongside the rest of this autumn's country and indie programming.