If you know, you know: Stern Grove season is the best free thing San Francisco has going, and the annual lineup speculation is practically a sport unto itself.

The beloved outdoor concert series — free admission, gorgeous eucalyptus-lined amphitheater, absolutely zero reason not to go — is gearing up for another summer run, and locals are already trying to crack the code on this year's artists. Early hints suggest the SF Symphony will make its traditional appearance (as reliable as fog in July), while the more tantalizing mystery acts have the internet playing detective. Names like Mitski and Cat Power are floating around the rumor mill, though both have graced the Stern Grove stage before.

Here's what we love about Stern Grove: it's one of the rare San Francisco institutions that actually delivers massive public value without costing taxpayers a dime in general fund money. The festival is funded through private donations and its own fundraising efforts — a model that, frankly, more of the city's cultural programming should aspire to. No bloated bureaucratic overhead, no $500,000 "equity consultants" — just a nonprofit putting on world-class shows in a stunning natural setting, for free, every Sunday.

As one local put it, the real game right now is decoding the cryptic lineup clues: "Obviously Symphony. Cat has to be Mitski, right? Or I guess Cat Power maybe makes more sense."

Whether you're a classical music devotee or an indie kid who shows up two hours early with a blanket and a smuggled bottle of wine, Stern Grove remains proof that San Francisco can still do things that are genuinely great — when the government mostly stays out of the way.

Lineup details should drop soon. When they do, move fast. The free seats fill up earlier every year, and the good picnic spots wait for no one.