Yoga in the Grove is a free, pre-concert yoga series at Stern Grove running select Sunday mornings through mid-August — and your registration doubles as a free concert ticket.

Yoga in the Grove, the Stern Grove Festival's free pre-concert yoga series, has three Sundays left in its 2026 run: August 2, August 9, and a close — the festival calendar also lists August 15 and 16 as dates, an atypical Saturday/Sunday pairing worth confirming at sterngrove.org/yoga before you plan around it. All sessions run 10:45 to 11:45 AM at Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, 19th Avenue at Sloat Boulevard. Free, all ages — but advance registration is required and space is limited. There is no walk-up option.

The mat question, which keeps coming up on r/AskSF, has a plain answer: bring your own. The festival's official line is "just bring your mat" — no blanket substitute is indicated, no loaners available. Instructors rotate from partner studios including HAUM, Love Story Yoga, and Crunch Gym, so the style changes week to week. Dress in layers; the grove sits in a fog pocket and the eucalyptus canopy keeps it cool well past 11 AM on most summer Sundays.

The less-obvious upside: your yoga registration automatically includes free general admission to that day's concert. You're not just signing up for a class — you're securing a concert slot and a meadow position before the general crowd arrives. It's among the cleaner ways into a Stern Grove show if the online lottery is closed.

Getting there. The 23 Muni runs along Monterey Boulevard; the 28 serves 19th Avenue directly. If you're driving, arriving for the 10:45 AM class puts you in the parking window before street spots on Sloat and surrounding blocks are gone.

The move. Register at sterngrove.org/yoga, arrive by 10:25 AM with your mat and a layer, do the class, and your concert spot is already staked when the music starts at 2 PM. The blanket alone won't get you into the yoga session — the mat is the price of entry.