Stern Grove Festival Association

Name

Stern Grove Festival Association

Legal name

Stern Grove Festival Association

Website

https://sterngrove.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Events

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310), Musical Groups and Artists (71113), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Festival Organizers & Promoters (MPAGAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG), Concerts & Music Festivals (THAJAFAA), Cultural & Community Festivals (Ticketed) (THAJAFAI)

Keywords

• Outdoor music festival
• Free live concerts
• Nonprofit performing arts
• Summer concert series
• Community music events

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Annual fundraising campaign raising approximately $6 million per year from individual donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation support to cover festival operations and keep all concerts free. Donor support covers the actual cost of approximately $40 per person per concert and approximately $65 per person to fund the full season.
2. Reserved Table Sales: Sale of reserved picnic tables and premium seating for groups of up to 40 guests, priced as tax-deductible donations ($200 community seat, $2,000 standard table for 10, $4,000 premium table for 10, Stageside Lounge for up to 40). Higher pricing during Big Picnic Weekend. Revenue directly funds free concert operations.
3. Concessions and Bar Revenue: Food and beverage sales through on-site bars, Tante's Concessions, and rotating food trucks. All bar proceeds go directly to supporting the festival. Merchandise sales through dedicated merch storefront.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Stern Grove Festival Association produces a free, admission-free outdoor summer concert series at Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco. The festival operates as a nonprofit music event running ten weekends each summer (June through August), featuring world-class artists across genres, distributed via a free lottery ticket system and supported by donor contributions, reserved table donations, sponsorships, and on-site concessions.

Product overview

Stern Grove Festival is a single, unified nonprofit event offering free outdoor concerts. The core product is the annual free concert series held at Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco. Supporting products and modules include Reserved Tables (premium donor seating), Community Box Offices (in-person ticket distribution), Partner Giveaways (sponsor ticket programs), Yoga in the Grove (wellness sessions), KidZone (family activities), Livestream (online viewing), Big Picnic Weekend (fundraising event), Volunteer Program, and Warm-Up & Sunset Sessions (local venue partnerships). The festival distributes free General Admission tickets via a lottery system as its primary access method.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Concerts (General Admission) The core offering of the festival: free live music concerts held annually in Sigmund Stern Grove, San Francisco, featuring world-class artists across multiple genres. General admission tickets are distributed via a lottery system open to the general Bay Area public.
• Reserved Tables Premium reserved seating options including Standard Tables ($2,000 for 10 guests), Premium Tables ($4,000 for 10 guests with gourmet lunch and beverages), and Stageside Lounge (up to 40 guests with premier views). Sold as tax-deductible donations that fund the free festival.
• Community Box Offices In-person ticket distribution locations across San Francisco where free tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, with 1,500 tickets per concert distributed through this program.
• Partner Giveaways Ticket distribution through community partners and sponsors who conduct giveaways via their websites and social media platforms to reach broader Bay Area audiences.
• Yoga in the Grove

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Fairmont San FranciscominorGTM or Marketing PartnerHotel partnership with Fairmont San Francisco. The hotel promotes the festival to guests using promo code '3UNART' for 20% off Flexible Daily Online Rates. Both organizations share a commitment to community, culture, and San Francisco experiences.
• Green MarycoreOthersGreen Mary is a Bay Area environmental services company dedicated to creating zero-waste events. At Stern Grove Festival, they maximize recycling, composting, and food recovery while minimizing landfill impact, helping divert the vast majority of event waste and educating tens of thousands of attendees on environmental consciousness.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Newport Folk Festival: Long-running nonprofit summer music festival in Newport, RI operated by the Newport Folk Foundation. Comparable in heritage (since 1959), donor-supported model, multi-genre artist programming, and emphasis on community access, though it is ticketed rather than free.
• Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival: Annual San Francisco music festival held in Golden Gate Park with a comparable multi-genre lineup and shared Bay Area audience. Differs in ticketed (not free) model and scale, but competes for the same summer audience, sponsors, and artist booking slate.
• Millennium Park Music Series (Chicago): Free summer concert series held at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park. Comparable in free outdoor summer programming, urban park venue setting, multi-genre lineup, and reliance on corporate/municipal sponsorship to fund operations.
• Monterey Jazz Festival: One of the world's longest-running jazz festivals (since 1958), operated by a nonprofit organization with donor and sponsor support. Comparable in nonprofit structure, multi-day summer programming, donor-funded model, and educational/outreach programming, though ticketed.
• Hardly Strictly Bluegrass: Also a free, nonprofit outdoor music festival held annually in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Directly comparable in mission (free live music for the Bay Area community), funding model (donor-supported), and geographic market, and is the closest analog to Stern Grove's positioning.
• Ravinia Festival: Longest-running nonprofit music festival in North America (1904), operating a summer outdoor concert series on its own grounds near Chicago. Comparable in nonprofit structure, summer outdoor programming, donor-funded model, and reliance on reserved/picnic-style premium seating as a key revenue stream.
• SummerStage in Central Park: Free outdoor summer concert series in New York City's Central Park operated by the City Parks Foundation. Comparable in free-admission model, donor-funded nonprofit operations, multi-genre programming, and mission to provide equitable access to live music in a major urban park.

Regional players

• SFJAZZ: San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit performing arts organization presenting year-round jazz programming and a major annual festival. Comparable in nonprofit structure, Bay Area audience overlap, donor-supported model, and mission-driven cultural access, though SFJAZZ operates an indoor venue (SFJAZZ Center) and is ticketed.

Others

• KEXP: Seattle-based nonprofit radio station and cultural organization that supports free live music programming and community events. Comparable as a nonprofit cultural organization that partners with Stern Grove through radio promotions and shares a mission to broaden access to live music, though not a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Hollywood Bowl: Iconic Los Angeles outdoor summer concert venue operated by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Comparable in summer outdoor programming at a fixed amphitheater, premium hospitality tiers, and large-scale attendance (17,000+ capacity), though not free and far larger in scale.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sterngrovefest
• Facebookfacebook.com/sterngrovefestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stern-grove-festival-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stern Grove Festival Association