Stern Grove is trading its usual quiet for shrieks and sirens this Friday, as San Francisco's annual ScareGrove Halloween festival takes over the Parkside neighborhood with carnival rides, a haunted maze and a costume contest built for the whole family. The free event runs from 3 to 9 p.m. at Sigmund Stern Grove, right at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks announced ScareGrove’s return in a post.
The department’s post identifies Friday, October 30, and Stern Grove as the date and location.
SFMTA’s event information describes the gathering as free and family-friendly.
Its listed attractions include a costume contest and carnival rides.
There are other activities beyond the midway: SFMTA’s blog lists food, live music and entertainment. 7x7 also reports a haunted house and maze, carnival rides, arts and crafts, and live entertainment.
Getting There Without a Car
SFMTA is leaning into its role as the easiest way to reach the Parkside grove, noting that the Muni Metro K Ingleside or M Ocean View lines, as well as the 23 Monterey, 28 19th Avenue, 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, or the 57 Parkmerced routes will take riders close to Stern Grove. Importantly, the agency says there are no planned service changes for this event, so regular schedules should hold throughout the evening.
For attendees who need extra help getting to the festival grounds, free accessible shuttle service is also available, according to the same SFMTA announcement. That option is designed to make the haunted house, maze and carnival rides accessible to as many families as possible without requiring a car or a parking spot near 19th and Sloat.
What to Expect on the Night
Costumes are very much part of the plan, with the festival built around its contest as one of the night's centerpieces alongside the carnival midway and haunted attractions. Between the rides, the maze, arts and crafts stations, and the food and live entertainment on offer, ScareGrove is shaping up as a one-stop Halloween outing for Parkside-area families and anyone willing to ride Muni out to the Grove on Friday afternoon.
ScareGrove’s Past and Stern Grove’s Other Tradition
San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission minutes dated September 15, 2016, described a past Scaregrove at Stern Grove scheduled for Friday, October 28, with haunted houses, giant inflatable games and hay rides. That record provides a snapshot of an earlier date and lineup, rather than a full history of the event’s schedule.
Stern Grove also hosts a separate cultural tradition: the Stern Grove Festival Association says its free-concert festival was founded in 1938. ScareGrove is a Halloween event, distinct from that concert programming.
