Now in its 88th year, the free, outdoor concert series is a staple of San Francisco summers. On weekends from June through August, the nonprofit festival brings major artists like Chaka Khan and the Flaming Lips to the park, and fans sprawl out on picnic blankets among the eucalyptus trees.

The tickets to Stern Grove concerts are free. But in past years, what attendees didn’t pay out of their bank balances, they paid in stress. The tickets were released all at once in an Eventbrite free-for-all, with fans racing to claim their passes before they were all gone.

And while scoring a ticket to Alex G last year wasn’t as challenging as buying a box logo Supreme hoodie, it left some die-hard fans with beads of sweat on their brows, and others without a coveted pass.

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