Now through Jan. 4, the Garden’s trees, plants and ponds will serve as a backdrop for more than a million lights, creative art installations and musical accompaniment. Visitors will walk a one-mile trail of lights carpeting the meadows and strung from the branches of trees, highlighting the beauty of nature in winter. Hot cocoa and other seasonal fare will be available to set the holiday mood.
Celebrating 60 years of the Grateful Dead’s music, the City of San Francisco rolled out the red carpet for the Dead & Company last month. The festivities featured San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) buses wrapped in Grateful Dead-inspired psychedelic colors, a special rose planted in Golden Gate Park’s Rose Garden – and the most anticipated of the festivities – three concerts at the Polo Field featuring Dead & Company during the first weekend of August.
One foggy Sunday afternoon in July, Anna Boyarsky and her two children were biking west along John F. Kennedy (JFK) Promenade in Golden Gate Park when they rounded the bend past the whale tail and spotted something gleaming through the trees ahead. As they got closer, they began to see a teal serpentine sculpture – a 100-foot-long sea serpent. They stopped, craning their necks to take in all the details of the 25-foot-tall sculpture towering over them.
Two years ago, in its effort to make JFK Drive attractive as a car-free “promenade” in Golden Gate Park, the City put a cement ping pong table in the middle of the street near Eighth Avenue. The table became quite popular, attracting crowds on the weekends.
Among the countless numbers of species of flowers in Golden Gate Park, you will never find a wallflower at Lindy in the Park. Lindy in the Park is a social swing dancing event that welcomes all to dance, socialize, talk to new people and spend time outside in beautiful Golden Gate Park – all without a cost.
Great blue herons currently have five active nests at Blue Heron Lake in Golden Gate Park.
It was a warm sunny day on Saturday, Oct. 19, when old car enthusiasts from around the Bay Area gathered in Golden Gate Park for the 36th annual San Francisco Old Car Picnic. The event was founded by retired Golden Gate Park gardener Jimmy O’Keeffe and raises money for charities supporting developmentally disabled people. The event is free for the public but old-car owners (before 1999) pay $40 each to park on the grass at Speedway Meadow and Hellman Hollow for the day.
To even the most uneducated in the rules of modern baseball, a home run is the thing to get. Knocking one over the fences and out of bounds is maybe the most iconic image associated with the sport, and the fastest way to earn points in a game.
Music emanated from among the majestic trees and floated across the lush green lawns, inviting visitors to step into the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park.
A great blue heron glides just above the water at Middle Lake in Golden Gate Park, then gracefully spreads its wings, feet rippling the surface as it lands with a splash and gentle wake.
Members of dahlia societies from all over California, Oregon and Idaho will be coming to San Francisco’s Annual Dahlia Show Aug. 17 and 18 at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park to display their best blooms and to compete for coveted prizes, such as “best in show,” “best arrangement,” and “nature’s oddities.”
The actual operation and management of the 800-space underground garage, however, will go to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) after its board of directors unanimously approved adding $27 million to its existing contract with garage operators.
A horseback-riding company was evicted from Golden Gate Park after allegations of neglect from former staff members led to the Recreation and Park Department revoking its permit to operate at Bercut Equitation Field.
Four pairs of great blue herons have returned to breed at the newly renamed Blue Heron Lake (formerly Stow Lake). San Francisco Nature Education’s (SFNE) campaigned to rename the lake after the beautiful herons who have been observed by SFNE nesting there since 1993. Three of the nests are located on the island opposite the Boathouse. Another pair has occupied last year’s nest on the island near the waterfall in the healthy tree.
“We hit a hole in one with the new clubhouse!” said Public Works Director Carla Short.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 