We are a superstitious lot, so please knock on wood as you read the following…
It looks like we are going to have a beautiful week of weather for the Spring 2024 Strawberry Music Festival! High 60s to low/mid 70s during the day, with low to mid 50s at night.
If you need any tips and suggestions on what to pack to make the most of your Strawberry, make sure to check out our list!
☀️🏕️ 🚗
We have spent a considerable amount of time working to improve this year’s entry procedure to ensure that it is comfortable, fun, and—above all else—safe for everyone involved.
Please do not arrive early OR line up/park on McCourtney Road.
If you arrive 30 minutes early, we will send you down the road to wait in a parking lot. However, if you come 10 minutes early, we will graciously guide you to the Penalty Lane. Please do not create a hazardous or uncourteous situation by lining up or parking along McCourtney Road prior to the approved arrival time stated on your ticket.
The Penalty Lane will be serviced last. Everyone who arrives on time (at or after the arrival/pre-banding time on your ticket) will be processed and banded first and then, and only then, will the Penalty Lane be processed and banded.
We will also have more signage this year to help advertise this new rule, but we leave it to you to understand that we are more strict about this than ever. Please arrive at or after the arrival/pre-banding time listed on your ticket. This applies to all staff, vendors, volunteers, and patrons.
JUST ANNOUNCED! Musical guests Cactus Bob and Prairie Flower will be serenading attendees during the wait. Please tune your radios to 88.3 FM for live reporting from Hog Ranch Radio.
Thank you!
We are only a week out from the festival, and the full schedule of performances for the Spring 2024 Strawberry Music Festival is here!
🍓 Start planning out your weekend. 💫
The site map for the Spring 2024 Strawberry Music Festival is here! Please read our improvements and updates for the layout of the festival:
1. The new location of the Command Post is more convenient for campers!
2. The new Strawberry Way Station is a multi-purpose tent for shaded seating. It is located near the Beer & Wine Pavillion and the Food Court. ALSO: Join the Learn to Jam Band at 4:00pm on Saturday, May 25, for the All-Camp Jam! Experience the magic of playing songs at the Strawberry Way Station with people you’ve never met.
3. The Music Meadow will be fenced again. This means there will be wristband checks but also more open walk-through gates from the campground.
4. Official addition of camping space near the Arena and Gate 8 for RV Overflow. This area has room for large groups and is conveniently located close to the Main Stage.
Thank you!
We still have plenty of camping tickets as well as Thursday, Friday, and Sunday 1-Day tickets available right now, but don’t wait to secure your place at Strawberry Spring 2024! Join us for a weekend of unforgettable music and good vibes!
🍓🌞🏕️
Strawberry Music Festival is a five-night, family-friendly campout with entertainment and activities for all ages. Buy tickets or get more info by calling the office at (209) 984-8630 M-Th, 10am-2pm, or at the link here.
* Please note the 4-Pack of 1-Day Adult Tickets is no longer available. *
Advanced notification will be sent out before we run out of any ticket type.
The Banana Slug String Band has been playing music for kids for over 38 years. The Slugs have brought their musical messages to noted festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, and their home festival, Strawberry Music Festival—which they have played nearly 40 times!
Their live show is legendary. The songs are all original and played in a variety of catchy musical styles…from folk to blues to reggae, rock and roll, and rap. The songs are educational, funny, and deeply moving. Kids come away inspired and ready to learn more about the Earth.
Doug Dirt, Airy Larry, Marine Mark, and Solar Steve are the Real Deal…..Impassioned musicians, songwriters, performers, educators, and eco-warriors!
Catch the Banana Slug String Band on the Play Stage at 1:30pm on Saturday, May 25th, and 2:00pm on Sunday, May 26th. Get your tickets here!
As the official voice of Strawberry, Hog Ranch Radio (“The Hog”) at 88.3 FM keeps the entire campground in tune, 24/7, with live music and up-to-the-minute information. In addition to being a vital source of all things Strawberry, festival goers also experience perhaps the most wonderful radio station they’ve ever heard.
HISTORY
It all began some 40 years ago when the festival founders recruited freeform radio legend Thom O’hair (KSAN) to create something completely new—a festival radio station.
Thom recruited fellow pirates Bix Beeman, Gregg McVicar and a few other clever tech heads to help launch Hog Ranch Radio, aka “The Hog”. The initial setup was a 10×10 pop-up tent in a Camp Mather meadow known as “Hog Ranch”. Long before Camp Mather became home to Strawberry (1983-2013), there was an old barn in the meadow with a large mural of a sheep painted across the side. Ranchers in the area said it looked more like a hog than a sheep, so the meadow became known as “Hog Ranch”. The name was a naturally funky fit, so the radio pirates adopted it as their own.
With the help of countless volunteers, including many brilliant engineers, Hog Ranch Radio has grown from a simple dirt-floor tent with an old mixer, a couple of Walkman cassettes and a small hand-made transmitter (see photo), into a sophisticated live broadcast recording studio.
WHY IT’S COOL
The Hog is tapped into all of the Strawberry stages and workshops, so the music comes to you wherever you are! Parents especially enjoy The Hog because they can still catch a new band while hanging in camp during nap time (or while participating in the many Strawberry Kids Activities). In between live performances, Hog radio hosts provide updates on schedule changes, lost children, festival safety tips, and more.
In addition to Main Stage performances, the Hog facilitates endless fun through the airwaves via The Breakfast Club, Band Scramble, Amy’s Orchid Lounge, live camp jams, open mic at the Hog Pickin’ Porch, artist interviews, as well as the voices of real Strawberrians captured “in the wild”.
The Hog also spins Strawberry flashbacks from the vast archive of previous shows, and this flow continues all night long.
IMPORTANCE
Over the years there have been many stories of The Hog coming to the rescue to help solve the problems which can arise in a village of several thousand people: lost kids, water shortages, fire danger… in fact, when a festival at Camp Mather was canceled because of an approaching forest fire, The Hog was already set-up, so CAL FIRE commandeered the airwaves to communicate with its firefighters up in the hills! Likewise, the CHP and other agencies have relied on The Hog for instant outreach to the festival. Usually the Hog is just pure fun, but you never know when a critically important message needs to reach the campgrounds. Radio is the original social media!
YOUR CAMPGROUND CONNECTION
The Hog adds peak value to the Strawberry experience when every camp tunes in. When all attendees are on the same wavelength, accurate information (not rumors) spreads quickly, as does maximum fun! Join the new generation of Hog hosts and listeners — keep that radio on and tuned to 88.3 FM!
THIS YEAR’S CONTEST
The Hog has several great contests planned this year. Each day of the festival there will be opportunities for listeners to win great prizes like Hog merch and Amy’s Orchid Lounge tickets, so don’t forget to pack your radio!
Saturday One-Day Tickets are close to selling out!
We still have plenty of camping tickets as well as Thursday, Friday, and Sunday One-Day Tickets available now, but don’t wait to secure your tickets!
🍓🌞🏕️
Strawberry Music Festival is a five-night, family-friendly campout with entertainment and activities for all ages. Buy tickets or get more info by calling the office at (209) 984-8630 M-Th, 10am-2pm, or at the link here.
Advanced notification will be sent out before we run out of any ticket type.
Wednesday, May 15th, is the last day to purchase tickets and receive them in the mail! Tickets purchased after the deadline will be available for pick up at Will Call with a photo ID. Will Call is located at the festival Box Office, which will be open 24 hours daily, starting at 8am on Thursday, May 23rd.
PLEASE NOTE: The pay-by-check feature will only be available until midnight on Friday, May 10th. Tickets purchased on May 15th will be mailed on May 16th.
📸 : Robin Frenette
The pairing of Jimbo’s earthy charisma and baritone voice with an all-star lineup of expert Nor Cal cats, including former members of the Risky Biscuits, Poor Man’s Whiskey, the Brothers Strong, and more, makes this band a delightful force to be reckoned with.
Flashing from sincere self-deprecation to cinematic retrospectives, Scott’s stories unfold in a genre-sprawling, delectable goodness that the Tahoe Weekly describes as “Honest, Honey-Eyed Americana.”
With songs that jump from Country to Rock, to Folk and Bluegrass, to Soul, the band offers a lush demonstration of instrumental prowess dripping in premier vocal performances. Jimbo Scott and Yesterday’s Biscuits are a rising force in the West Coast Americana Scene, not to be missed and best to be consumed with reckless abandon.
Consume away when Jimbo Scott and Yesterday’s Biscuits take the Main Stage on Friday, May 23, at 11:00am.
