Grateful Dead fans are going to need a lot more roses this weekend, as there’s going to be a massive, free public memorial gathering for the late, great Bobby Weir on Saturday afternoon starting at 12:45 pm at Civic Center Plaza.
As we learned this summer with the Grateful Dead 60th anniversary Dead & Company concerts in Golden Gate Park, whenever a Grateful Dead milestone is celebrated in San Francisco, there will always be more than one event to celebrate milestone. And so it shall be with the tragic passing of Grateful Dead frontman and co-founder Bob Weir last weekend, an occasion that was marked with the spontaneous Grateful Dead live jam-band dance party on Haight Street that broke out within hours of the news.
There is going to be another one of these this Saturday, currently scheduled for 3 pm in front of the shop Love on Haight. Though we imagine they’re going to be changing the time on that live performance soon.
Because that event now has major Saturday competition from a far bigger celebration of Bob Weir's life. The Chronicle reports there will be a huge, free public memorial to Bob Weir on Saturday afternoon. It’s being called “Homecoming: Celebrating the Life of Bobby Weir,” organized by Another Planet Entertainment, and is scheduled for 12:45 pm this Saturday, January 17 at Civic Center Plaza. The memorial is open to anyone, though fans are encouraged to RSVP.
“This Saturday, January 17, at 12:45 pm PT, join us at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco for a free public gathering honoring Bobby, whose music, spirit, and humanity shaped generations,” the event’s invite declares. “Together, we will pay tribute in the community and collective heartbeat that he created.”
Bay Area News Group notes that there will also be a pre-ceremony procession at 12:30 pm Saturday starting at Market and Seventh streets, and ending at the big Civic Center Plaza ceremony gathering.
News of Bob Weir’s Jan. 10 death drew scores of Deadheads to San Fransisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where gatherings and singalongs dotted the streets made famous by the Grateful Dead.
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 13, 2026
See our photo gallery: https://t.co/vpMrIBNgBe pic.twitter.com/SH1z3OZLdI
The organizers at Another Planet Entertainment are quick to insist that “This is not a concert, and there will be no live musical performances” at Saturday’s event. That may also mean there might not be the obligatory vans full of nitrous oxide tanks selling balloons to passersby on Saturday. But we’re not saying for sure that there won’t be vans full of nitrous oxide tanks selling balloons to passersby on Saturday.
Either way, fare the well now, and we’ll see you Deadheads out there Saturday afternoon at Civic Center Plaza.
Image: NEW YORK - OCTOBER 14: Bob Weir of Grateful Dead attends the signing of "Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978" at Best Buy on October 14, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
