Streets event getting louder
September 4, 2009
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| Getting some fresh air: People walk, skate and ride bikes along Great Highway during the Sunday Streets closure in August. The event returns this Sunday. (Examiner file photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Wealthy financier Warren Hellman is footing the bill to add live music at the final Sunday Streets event of summer.
Several bands will be performing along Great Highway during the sixth and last event of the year Sunday, which designates Great Highway from Golden Gate Park to the San Francisco Zoo as a car-free pedestrian-friendly zone. It starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 2 p.m.
Hellman personally approved bands The Brothers Comatose, The Barbary Ghosts and Allofasudden to rock stages along Great Highway at Sloat Boulevard, Lincoln Way and Taraval Street.
“[Hellman is] a huge fan of The Brothers Comatose. They’re not bluegrass and they have this Irish tinge,’’ said Dawn Holliday, who helps organize the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the annual Golden Gate Park music festival that Hellman founded and finances.
Holliday recalled when Hellman said he wanted to pick up the tab for bands to perform at Sunday Streets.
“He just called and said, ‘I’d like do this music free.’ I said, ‘Fine. The more free music, the better,’ and that was it,” she said. Holliday ran the lineup for Sunday Streets by him for final approval.
Hellman’s continuous support holds special meaning for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which has been at the forefront of the Sunday Streets events and provided hundreds of volunteers each time.
“We’ve done general marketing and rib-poking of the mayor to get this going,” coalition Program Director Andy Thornley said. “And the buzz has been building, friends are telling friends ... and we’re definitely giving [Hellman] props for making this an even better event.”
Thornley said the coalition’s volunteers do everything, including grabbing a wrench, repairing a bike and manning intersections for traffic — and it’s all for the love of open space.
“There’s a great sense of discovery and the novelty of being able to stand in the middle of the Great Highway,” Thornley said.
Rockin’ the coastline
Some of the events for the final Sunday Streets this year:
- Band Rock the Bike, with a pedal-powered stage
- 150 free bike rentals and free bike repairs
- Food vending from Sunset district merchants
- California Academy of Sciences “Penguins to Penguins” activity center
- Cyclecide pedal-powered amusement rides made out of recycled bikes
- RollerSoccer demonstrations and games
- Skating lessons
- Special kids programming
- Cultural dance exhibitions
- “Playland Not at the Beach” historic museum installations
Source: www.sundaystreetssf.com
kkelkar@sfexaminer.com
