See fantastic summer musical acts without spending a dime.
Fantastic Negrito is among the great acts you can catch without paying a dime.
You can literally spend hundreds of dollars on a single concert ticket. Or you can see 100-plus concerts this summer without dropping a single dime on ducats.
Yeah, we thought Option 2 might catch your attention.
There is a plethora of free summer concert series going on all over the greater Bay Area, from Point Richmond and Palo Alto to Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
And the number of musical styles — from jazz and rock to blues, classical and opera — is just staggering.
Here is our annual guide to some of the Bay Area’s best free concert series:
Stern Grove Festival
WHEN » 2 p.m. Sundays June 25 through Aug. 27
WHERE » Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco; sterngrove.org
HIGHLIGHTS » Local rock-soul band Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Oakland blues/ R&B crooner Fantastic Negrito (July 2); San Francisco Symphony performing selections from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” as well as works by Bizet and an Edith Piaf medley (July 9); R&B-gospel legend Mavis Staples, Bay Area jazz-hip-hop-funk group the Kev Choice Ensemble (Aug. 27)
Jazz on the Plazz
WHEN >> 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays June 21 through Aug. 23
WHERE >> Los Gatos Town Plaza, West Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue, jazzontheplazz.com
HIGHLIGHTS >> Remarkably talented jazz vocalist Paula West (June 28); Monterey Jazz Festival County High School All Stars (Aug. 2); former “Dukes of Hazzard” star and current jazz crooner Tom Wopat (Aug. 23)
Friday Night Bands
on the Beach
WHEN >> 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Fridays June 16 through Sept. 1
WHERE >> Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz; beachboardwalk.com
HIGHLIGHTS >> Former Bad Company lead singer Brian Howe (June 23); Grammy-winning rock/folk/R&B act Los Lobos (July 28); soft-rock favorite Pablo Cruise (Aug. 11)
Music and Market Series
WHEN >> 6:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sept. 14
WHERE >> Todos Santos Plaza, between Mount Diablo and Grant streets, Concord; cityofconcord. org HIGHLIGHTS >> Rockabilly outfit Mitch Polzak and The Royal Deuces, old-timey Americana act The KillBillies (June 22); Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepparella (July 6); country music favorites The California Cowboys (July 20)
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
WHEN >> Various dates and times through Oct. 29
WHERE >> Yerba Buena Gardens, Fourth and Mission streets, San Francisco; ybgfestival.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> Berkeley-raised soul singer Destani Wolf (12:30 p.m. June 15); the legendary San Francisco Mime Troupe (2 p.m. July 23); SF Uke Jam featuring Ukulenny, Cynthia Lin, more (1 p.m. July 29)
Point Richmond Music’s Summer Concerts
WHEN >> June 9, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8 and 22; two concerts each night, 5:30-6:30 p.m. and 6:457:45 p.m.
WHERE >> Park Place and Washington Avenue in downtown Point Richmond; pointrichmondmusic.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> (early act listed first) Tia Carroll and Her Awesome Blues Band, Richmond’s own Zydeco sensation Andre Thierry (June 9); Northern California blues trio HowellDevine, New Orleans funk troupe Second Line (July 14)
Sfjazz Summerfest
WHEN >> 6 p.m. Thursdays June 22 through Aug. 24 WHERE >> Stanford Shopping Center, 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto; sfjazz.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> Stanford Jazz Workshop Faculty All-Stars (June 29); TrumpetSuperGroup (Aug. 17)
Los Gatos Music in the Park
WHEN >> 5 p.m. Sundays June 18 through Sept. 2 (no show on Aug. 13) WHERE >> Los Gatos Civic Center (front lawn area), Main Street
and Fiesta Way; lgmip.com (Note: Sept. 2 concert will be held at Oak Meadow Park)
HIGHLIGHTS >> Doobie Brothers tribute act Long Train Runnin’ (June 18); Los Gatos’ own rocksoul powerhouse The Houserockers (Sept. 2)
Music On The Square
WHEN >> 6 p.m. through Sept. 1 WHERE >> Courthouse Square, 2200 Broadway, Redwood City; redwoodcity.org/musiconthesquare
HIGHLIGHTS >> Soul/blues artist Lara Price (July 21), Michael Jackson tribute act Foreverland (Aug. 25)
Tuesday Night Blues
WHEN >> 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays July 11-25
WHERE >> Todos Santos Plaza, Concord; cityofconcord.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> Harmonica hero Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors (July 11); boogie/jump blues piano man Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88’s (July 18); Delta blues slide-guitarist Roy Rogers and The Delta Rhythm Kings (July 25)
Concerts in the Park
WHEN >> 7 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 25
WHERE >> Lions Wayside Park, First and Neal streets, Pleasanton; pleasantondowntown.net
HIGHLIGHTS >> Classic soul/Motown troupe West Grand Boulevard (June 9), alt-rockers Finding Stella (June 23)
Saturday Concerts in the Grove
WHEN >> 6 p.m. June 10 and 24; July 8 and 22; Aug. 5 and 19; Sept. 2 and 16
WHERE >> Grove Park, Main Street, Clayton; http://ci.clayton. ca.us/
HIGHLIGHTS >> Santana tribute act Caravanserai (June 24); Motown soul champs Pride and Joy (Aug. 5)
Alamo Summer Concert Series
WHEN >> 6:30 p.m. Fridays June
23-July 28
WHERE >> Livorna Park, Livorna Road and Miranda Avenue, Alamo; cccounty.us/alamoparksandrecreation
HIGHLIGHTS >> Mike Amaral’s California Beach Boys tribute act (June 30), jam-rock band Moonalice (July 28)
Sunset by the Lake Summer Concerts
WHEN >> 6 p.m. Sundays June 11 and 25, July 9 and 23, Aug. 6 and 20, Sept. 3
WHERE >> Pleasant Hill City Hall, 100 Gregory Lane; pleasanthillconcerts.com
HIGHLIGHTS >> Steely Dan tribute band Aja Vu (July 23), Tom Petty tribute act The Big Jangle (Aug. 20)
Music in the Park
WHEN >> 6 p.m. Wednesdays June 14-Aug. 16 WHERE >> Stafford Park, King Street and Hopkins Avenue, Redwood City; redwoodcity.org/musiconthesquare HIGHLIGHTS >> Rockers Hibbity Dibbity (June 21), pop/rock/soul dance band Janel and the Heist (July 12)
San Jose Municipal Golf Course Music Series
WHEN >> 6:30 p.m. Thursdays June 8-Sept. 14
WHERE >> San Jose Municipal Golf Course, 1560 Oakland Road, San Jose; sjmuni.com/bar-grill/summer-music-series
HIGHLIGHTS >> Doobies Brothers tribute band Long Train Runnin’ (June 15 and Sept. 7), country music act Taylor Scott (July 27)
Vasona Vibrations Concert Series
WHEN >> 5 p.m. Saturdays through July 29
WHERE >> Vasona Lake County Park, 333 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos; vasonavibrations.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> Soul/jazz/R&B vocalist Jessica Johnson (June 24), bluegrass act Bean Creek (July 15)
Friday Night Music
WHEN >> 6 p.m. Fridays through Sept. 1
WHERE >> Downtown Amphitheater, Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill; morganhill.org
HIGHLIGHTS >> Party/dance band Night Fever (June 9), funk/R&B act Joint Chiefs Band (Aug. 11)
Broadway Plaza Summer Concert Series
WHEN >> 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursdays in August
WHERE >> Broadway Plaza Event Center, 1275 Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek
HIGHLIGHTS >> Prince tribute the Purple Ones (Aug. 10), Fleetwood Mac tribute Fleetwood Mask (Aug. 17)