Flower Piano returns to the San Francisco Botanical Garden from September 10 to 20, 2026, its eleventh year. Sunset Piano places more than a dozen tuned grand pianos across the Garden’s 55 acres in Golden Gate Park, and anyone who walks up to one can sit down and play it.
What to Expect
The pianos stay out for the full eleven days. Between scheduled sets, they are open for anyone to play, which is the part that makes the festival unusual: the performers are a mix of booked professionals and whoever happens to be in the Garden that afternoon.
Sunset Piano and the Garden have programmed about 130 individuals and ensembles for 2026. The bill includes La Gente on opening night at the Flower Piano Lounge, the Classical Revolution Jazz Orchestra, Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, the Christian Tumalan Trio, Mariah Parker’s Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble, the Kev Choice Chamber Ensemble, Dred Scott, Kitten On The Keys, John Brothers Piano Company, The Cottontails, Jaron Lanier, and players from the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Opera. The third annual Flower Piano Fashion Show is also on the schedule. The Garden publishes the full program with set times on its own site.
The Background
Sunset Piano is a project by Mauro ffortissimo and Dean Mermell, who have been putting pianos in unexpected outdoor locations since 2013. Flower Piano, run with the San Francisco Botanical Garden, is the project’s largest annual event. DC Pianos in Berkeley maintains the instruments.
Visiting
The festival is included with regular Garden admission. San Francisco residents get in free with proof of residency, which means a California ID showing an SF address, or a utility bill or lease plus a photo ID. Children four and under, veterans, Museums for All and EBT participants, and Gardens of Golden Gate Park members are also always free. Non-residents pay the standard Garden admission, listed at gggp.org/tickets. The Garden is free to everyone daily from 7:30 to 9am and on the second Tuesday of each month, though in 2026 the second Tuesday of September falls on the 8th, before Flower Piano opens.
The Flower Piano Lounge is separate. Those performances are ticketed and come with food and beverage service, and the Garden sells a three-day all-access pass. Ticket details are on the Garden’s Flower Piano page.
Getting There
The main gate is at 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way. The N Judah stops at 9th Avenue and Irving Street, two blocks north. The 44 O’Shaughnessy runs through Golden Gate Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, near the Friend Gate. Parking on 9th Avenue and along the park edge fills up on weekends, so check SFMTA before driving.
When: September 10 to 20, 2026. Where: San Francisco Botanical Garden, 1199 9th Avenue, Golden Gate Park. Cost: Included with Garden admission; free for San Francisco residents with ID. Lounge performances are ticketed separately.
For the rest of the month, see our September 2026 guide and our roundup of free museum days in September.
Sources: Sunset Piano and Gardens of Golden Gate Park.
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
