The very charming outdoor piano jam Flower Piano will be back in Golden Gate Park in mid-September, with twice as many dates as last year, and bringing back many key musical figures like Jill Tracy, Lavay Smith, and the SF Symphony.

San Francisco’s summer will once again end on a high note, as the delightful outdoor free piano concert series Flower Piano has announced its 2024 lineup and dates (September 13-22, 2024) at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. And there will be twice as much flower power in this year’s piano music festival, because with the special opening night celebration added in, the organizers at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park declare this year's event is “doubling the duration from last year and spanning two weekends.” (This is how it used to be, pre-pandemic.)

There’s a Flower Piano 2024 schedule that’s sortable by date, but this does not yet appear to be the full schedule. There are plenty of time slots not yet filled in on the currently posted lineup, which stands to reason, because the event is still nearly two months away. And as always, Flower Piano is free to attend for San Francisco residents, but there are entry fees for non-residents, with sliding scales for seniors, families, youth, and children.

The big Thursday night opening party (September 12, 6:30 pm) is not free to attend, but will feature Alejandro Del Valle & Orquesta La Moderna Tradición. And there are other big performances with entry fees in the VIP-style Flower Piano Lounge, which has a bar, lounge furniture, and exclusive bathrooms. Highlight performances there include the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra (Friday, September 13),  Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers (Saturday, September 14), and Mr. Lucky and the Cocktail Party (Sunday, September 22) among many others.

But the free (for SF residents) lineup has many of your longtime Flower Piano favorites returning. You’ve got the SF Symphony (Sunday, September 15), the moody-goth sounds of Jill Tracy (Friday, September 20), the “flapper rock” cabaret covers of Kitten on the Keys (Saturday, September 21), and Flower Piano co-founder Dean Mermell’s duo Tom Jonesing (Saturday, September 21).

Though notably, we do not yet see the animatronic piano-playing robot puppet Vanessa on the lineup, though the little robot muppet played there last year. Again, it’s early, and Vanessa may still get booked to play at Flower Piano 2024.

Even though it’s free for San Francisco residents, you still need to reserve Flower Piano tickets for the date in question to attend.

This year’s Flower Piano is extended to 10 days, though it’s not the longest Flower Piano ever. The event went 12 days in 2019 before the pandemic, but was understandably canceled in 2020, and was only five days long for the last three years’ versions. Still, we’re glad to see that the length of the Flower Piano music festival is crescendoing back to full power.  

Flower Piano 2024 is September 13-22, 2024 at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Tickets here

Related: SF’s Ultra-Charming Piano Festival, Flower Piano, Returns to Golden Gate Park Starting Friday [SFist]

Image: @bendhoward via Twitter