Never missed a Strawberry? Joining us for the first time? Just love reading stuff? We’ve got some helpful guidelines for you!

Thank you for reading, and please stay tuned for important guidelines about the Strawberry Stroll, compost bins, and more coming soon!

Please bring your own reusable water bottle to the Spring 2025 Strawberry Music Festival.

We have eliminated the sale of products packaged in single-use plastic. You can help support this effort by planning ahead!

There are numerous potable water spigots throughout camp, and filtered water stations will be available in at least four convenient locations across the Fairgrounds to keep you hydrated and healthy. See your festival map (included in Gate Handout) to find a filtered water station near you.

Biodegradable cups and cutlery are used in the Food Court.

Please remember our guidelines for bicycles and motorized devices at Strawberry.

Arriving Wednesday? Please do not arrive early OR line up/park on McCourtney Road. 

What does “arrive early” mean? In the Entrance Plan included with your ticket(s), there is an entry time for prebanding — either 10:30am or 1:30pm. You do not need to be at the Fairgrounds at 10:30am on the dot, we just want you there anytime after 10:30am. 10:35am? Wonderful. 10:40am? Even better. 10:45am? Ok, superstar!

If you arrive 30 minutes early, we will send you down the road to wait in a nearby parking lot. Please do not create a hazardous or discourteous situation by lining up or parking along McCourtney Road prior to the approved arrival time stated in the Entrance Plan sent with your ticket(s).

Once again for good measure! Please arrive at or after the arrival/pre-banding time listed on your Entrance Plan. This applies to all staff, vendors, volunteers, and patrons.

Those who arrive early will be sent to the back of the line. Please contact us if you have any questions about your arrival time at (209) 984-8630 or info@strawberrymusic.com. Thank you for your cooperation!

Only service animals are allowed, as defined by the ADA. Pets and emotional support animals are not granted admittance.

Persons found on-site with a non-service animal will be escorted off the festival grounds, but may return without the animal. Strawberry Music, Inc. reserves the right to refuse service to any individual whose conduct poses a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or service animals.

As we have in previous years, we will adhere to a strict service animal policy. Service animals will be banded at the Box Office or Command Post by a member of our Safety & Security Staff. After the service animal has been credentialed, the owner will not likely be approached again unless the animal causes a problem. The service animal needs to be leashed and under the direct control of the owner at all times. It is a crime to misrepresent a pet as a service animal (California Penal Code 365.7 PC).

No fire! Propane cookstoves and grills are allowed. Please use caution!

We appreciate your cooperation and dedication to fire safety!

Thank you!

At Strawberry, feeding your musical spirit goes hand in hand with nurturing your creative side in our Art Workshops, moving your body during our Movement classes, and exploring your imagination while listening to our Storytellers.

Look out for the Spring 2025 Family Activities schedule coming soon! 

🎨🎻🧘‍♀️🐦‍⬛🧵

There are less than three weeks until you can enjoy the wonderful programs, memorable classes, and enriching activities that make Strawberry so special in person! Learn more and get your tickets at the link in our bio. 

Photo Credit: Adam Metterville, Evan Thompson, Dave Bonnot, Kate Skogen, Tim Konrad, Robin Frenette, Tim Van Raam

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!

The legendary Amy’s Orchid Lounge keeps the music going! Join us at Ponderosa Hall for Strawberry Late Night on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Doors at 11:00pm, music starts at 11:15pm. 

Prefer to drift peacefully to sleep while listening to your radio? We got you. Hog Ranch Radio broadcasts the performances all three nights. 

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Tickets for Amy’s Orchid Lounge can be purchased for $10 on-site at Hog Ranch Radio starting at 10am on the day of the show. Tickets to the festival @ link in bio.

We are pleased to announce that John McCutcheon, and David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach will be joining us in October for Fall 2025 Strawberry!

Visit our Fall Lineup page to listen to and learn more about each performer.

Stay tuned here and on our website — more lineup announcements for the Fall are coming soon! ALL ticket types for 2025 are on sale now. Tickets can be ordered online 24/7 or by phone at (209) 984-8630, M-Th, 10:00 am-3:00 pm.

It is with a heavy heart and an abundance of fond memories that we share the sad news Linda Hinshaw (affectionately known as Miz Linda) passed away last weekend. Our collective Strawberry heart goes out to Linda’s family and wider circle of friends. 

Miz Linda first attended Strawberry in 1984 as a member of the Gate crew with Ricky Chicky and her family friend, Caroline Gann. Later on, she was assigned to traffic management and stationed at the road to Birch Lake for the Monday exit. At some point along the way, Miz Linda brought co-worker Stan Stratton to Strawberry, who became a lifelong friend and festival campmate. When Strawberry moved to the Nevada County Fairgrounds in 2014, Linda and Stan joined the Camping Assistance crew, where they worked together with friends Barry (Big Bear) and Maline Hazle, helping campers find their spots and parking RVs.

Anyone who goes way back with Strawberry has a fun story about hanging with Miz Linda. One year, Linda saved up all her used purple lighters so she could plant them in and around Stan’s van throughout the festival. There was at least one epic night/morning spent at Rock in the Road with JD. Or when Linda helped serve food to firefighters when the Fall Festival was postponed, and Camp Mather became a fire camp for the ‘87 Stanislaus Complex Fire. There was also the time when Strawberry crews arrived at Camp Mather to find there were no mattresses in any of the cabins. When the mattresses were delivered the day before the gates opened, Linda, Ranger Roger, Ricky Chicky, Steve, Eloy, Mitch, and a few others distributed mattresses into the wee hours of the morning. Reportedly, not one of them complained. 

Miz Linda was an absolute force of nature who was very passionate about the people and things she loved. Many Strawberrians will remember Linda as stylish and rugged, wearing her signature black cowgirl hat, as well as the years when a whip was part of the ensemble. We will never forget Miz Linda’s enthusiastic support of Strawberry, how she would whoop and cheer at the staff meetings on Wednesday night, and what that meant to us when times were tough. She will be loved, missed, and remembered as a cherished part of the Strawberry community.

Rest in peace, dear friend. We hope you are having fun with Stan, Big Bear, and many others at the big Strawberry in the sky. <3<3<3

The beautifully forested Nevada County Fairgrounds, nestled in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, features an amazing ecosystem of flora and fauna — and that doesn’t even include Strawberrians!

Naturalists from Nevada City’s Shady Creek Outdoor School host Eco-Walks, Critter Hunts, Bird-Watch Hikes, and Raptor Show-and-Tells over the course of the festival. Don’t forget to stop by the Beehive Exhibit, where you can see bees at work and learn about their fascinating life cycle from the folks at the Nevada County Beekeeper’s Association!

Stay tuned as we highlight some of the wonderful programs, memorable classes, and enriching activities that make Strawberry so special. Learn more here, and make sure to grab your tickets!

📸:  Kate Skogen

One of the best parts of Strawberry? The myriad chances to learn and play music, to jam with old and new friends, and to hone musical techniques and skills.

Music workshops and activities at past festivals have included Band Scramble; Fiddle for Adults; Learn to Jam!; Guitar Tips and Tricks; How to Play the Accordion; Songwriting Sessions; Dobro Workshop; and many more!

Stay tuned over the next few months as we highlight some of the wonderful programs, memorable classes, and enriching activities that make Strawberry so special. Learn more about all Strawberry has to offer here.

There is something for everyone at Strawberry!

Photo Credit: Tim Konrad, Robin Frenette

We’ve been listening, and we have a long-awaited announcement. . .

The Strawberry Performance History Database is back! Check it out here.

The database is a draft list of over 2,400 performances which have occurred at the Strawberry Bluegrass Festivals or Strawberry Music Festivals, on either the Main Stage, Workshop Stage or at Amy’s Orchid Cafe, from 1982 until 2024. The database is searchable and sortable by year, date, band, festival, and even time of day!

We are celebrating the return of the Strawberry Performer Database with a trivia contest for a pair of single-day tickets! 

QUESTION

Which Spring 2025 performer also played at Spring 2002?

TO QUALIFY

• Submit your answer to list@strawberrymusic.com by Sunday, March 16th at 11:59pm PST. 
• You must be subscribed to our email list.

The winner will be randomly chosen from the correct answers. The pair of single-day tickets will be for the day of your choosing at the Spring 2025 festival. Single-day tickets are good for the entire day (8am–midnight) on each day of the Spring 2025 festival (Thursday–Sunday). The winner will be announced on Monday, March 17th.

From 1982 to 2024, we’ve got it all. If we don’t? We want you to give us a helping hand! Submit friendly corrections and suggestions to performancehistorypage@strawberrymusic.com.

Thank you!