Stern Grove Festival

This Sunday marks the end of one of our absolute favorite things about San Francisco: Stern Grove Festival season. This year, they're ending on a high note by having the San Francisco Opera perform gratis amidst wine-fuzzy culture aficionados and a seriously magical forest...affirming that it really isn't over until the fat lady sings. So, let's get down to business. What does one wear to such a unique event? It's the opera—generally a high-brow event, but it's in a park and in a city with less than predicable weather.

t‗w at Flickr

These days, we're all about anything that's free. And when what's free happens to be an annual, venerable SF event - an institution in many ways - we're all about it. Yep, it's Stern Grove Festival time again, and it's kicking off this weekend beneath the eucalyptus trees in the Grove on 19th Avenue and Sloat (which, for festival newbies, is not to be mistaken for Golden Gate Park). This season's performers run the gamut - there's folk, opera, ballet and rap in the mix.

Dionne Warwick at the Stern Grove Festival Gala / By Scott Wall

All other Photos by Catherine Bigelow

Fog in the avenues and free music in the meadow? It’s now officially summer in San Francisco -- heralded last night as pashmina-wrapped guests arrived at the Stern Grove Festival Gala.

The free summer concerts at this magical musical spot are an EssEff summer tradition. And gala guests of all ages were a-twitter (the old-school version) over the featured performer at this elegant dinner-dance: beloved songbird Dionne Warwick.