Deadheads Flock To The Excelsior For Jerry Garcia Street Unveiling

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A large crowd gathered in San Francisco’s Excelsior neighborhood Friday morning in a sea of tie-dye shirts – specifically, Grateful Dead tie-dye shirts.

They were there for the official unveiling of “Jerry Garcia Street,” a commemorative sign that’s now a permanent fixture on Harrington Street, where Garcia once lived with his grandparents in a yellow house (87 Harrington St.).

“It’s truly an honor, on behalf of Jerry Garcia’s family, to witness this historic street naming,” Trixie Garcia, Jerry Garcia’s daughter, told the crowd.

Garcia, of the iconic San Francisco band the Grateful Dead, is being honored this Saturday via the 23rd annual “Jerry Day,” with events scheduled throughout the weekend, including live music at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park starting at 11:30 a.m., a three-day Dead & Company show in Golden Gate Park, and afterparties at various venues around the city. For fans, the fact that it’s the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary is all the more reason to celebrate.

“Jerry gave San Francisco and its people and all of us lasting memories and music,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. “As the lead guitarist, he played unforgettable shows at venues across the city, including the Fillmore, the Avalon Ballroom, and, of course, Golden Gate Park.”

At the ceremony, Lurie shared that approximately 150,000 people were expected to be in the city for “Jerry Day,” including people from every single state in the nation as well as individuals from 38 countries throughout the world.

[It will] generate a financial benefit for the whole city,” said Lurie, and “it’s once again going to bring that joy and love and peace to our city.”

Art Mnatsakanov, 41, had flown in from Detroit, Michigan and wanted to make sure he was there for the street unveiling and to celebrate Garcia’s birthday, who was born August 1, 1942.

Mnatsakanov never had the opportunity to catch a Grateful Dead show when Garcia was alive.

“I had just moved to this country in ‘95 [the year Garcia died], so I wasn’t able to see him,” he said.

He was looking forward to three days of music in Golden Gate Park and taking in the sights and sounds of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann – who are in the Dead & Co. lineup – as well as others.

He was at the unveiling with his friend Lisa, who’s working on a documentary about the Dead.

“We’re going to be doing a lot of fun stuff around the city,” he shared.

Grateful Dead fan Andrew Gagnon, 35, arrived in the city Thursday morning. He’d come all the way from Hudson, New Hampshire for the “Jerry Day” festivities.

“I went over to Sweetwater, Bobby Weir's place, yesterday, and saw a live band,” he said. “Then I came here this morning first thing, and now I'm making my way down to Haight Ashbury.”

It’s not his first time visiting San Francisco or heading to the Haight, but he was nevertheless looking forward to checking out the Grateful Dead-themed pop-up shops and art in the neighborhood that the band was known to frequent.

He was ready to go for “Jerry Day,” with a three-day pass to the Dead & Co. show in Golden Gate Park and plans to meet up with friends.

“It's going to be amazing,” he said.

For more information about “Jerry Day,” go here.
Details about the Dead & Co. concert are available here.

SEE ALSO:

Fans Toast Grateful Dead’s 60th With Concerts At San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park