DePedro

A soul diva tosses aside her mic and lets her passionate voice roll over the audience as a hawk looks on. A stray sunbeam breaks through looming clouds and dashes across a renowned Indian master’s tablas as he strikes up the beat. A jubilant crowd of thousands dances to electronica-laced tango, swaying as one and leaping joyfully on stage. Butterflies and dragonflies flit past acclaimed symphonies, opera companies, and ballet dancers.

Magical moments happen regularly at Stern Grove Festival, San Francisco’s premier admission-free outdoor performing arts festival, a gem at the city’s heart. The 73rd Stern Grove Festival takes place Sundays at 2:00 p.m., June 20-August 22, 2010 (Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Ave. & Sloat Blvd., San Francisco; www.sterngrove.org).

I loved playing Stern Grove. It’s a beautiful wooded enclave in the middle of a big city, with a great laid-back atmosphere. — Aimee Mann

Majestic yet intimate, Stern Grove Festival’s eclectic renowned performers are encircled by its unmatched outdoor venue: a resonant natural amphitheater among century-old redwoods and eucalyptus. Here, urban and pastoral, cosmopolitan and communal, nature and art, mingle.

I looked out there at those trees…you almost think you’re in heaven. It’s like hugging me, this venue is hugging me. I’ve never seen a place like this and I’ve been singing for a long time. — Mavis Staples