PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY GABRIEL DAVID BARKIN | PUBLISHED ON March 10, 2026

HARD TO HANDLE IN THE PANHANDLE

For the first time in almost 60 years, the music of the Grateful Dead was played live atop a flatbed truck in the Panhandle of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Sunday afternoon. The smell of eucalyptus and kind weed filled the park during the four-hour extravaganza, which featured three sets of classic Dead tunes performed by two eminently worthy Bay Area bands, Danny’s Live Dead and China Cats

Those eucalyptus trees might have been several feet shorter in 1967, and the mayor and “the establishment” at that time certainly less welcoming of the hippie invasion. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. (Well, the weed is probably stronger.) Deadheads in colorful garb, dogs both on and off leashes, and an assortment of bubbles, banners, and jugglers filled the park in the Haight-Ashbury district on a warm, sunny afternoon this weekend. The vibe was beautiful, baby.

Settle in. This is a LONG gallery, befitting such an awesome event!

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Photos by Gabriel Barkin | www.gdbarkin.com | IG: @gabrieldavidbarkin