Stern Grove Festival's final concert of season canceled after water main break floods SF venue

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sunday's final show of the year for the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco has been canceled because of a water main break that flooded the site, festival organizers announced Wednesday.

The rupture of the water main on Monday has closed Stern Grove and nearby Pine Lake until further notice, according to the city's Recreation and Park Department.

Organizers with the Stern Grove Festival, a weekly series of free concerts across 10 summer Sundays that was supposed to end with this Sunday's show featuring Tower of Power and Too $hort, posted on the fest's website that the event has to be canceled.

"This was definitely one of our most highly anticipated concerts of an incredible season, but the damage is too severe to move forward safely at this time," festival executive director Bob Fieldler said in a news release. "We are grateful that no one was hurt, and we are proud to have overcome so many challenges this year to have presented nine exceptional concerts for more than 50,000 people."

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said the problematic pipeline was in the area of Sloat Boulevard and 22nd Avenue, where crews discovered an air valve in poor condition and had to empty the large pipe of water before fixing it.

The SFPUC wrote on social media Tuesday night that the repairs had been completed and water service in the area would return to normal.

As for repairs to Stern Grove, organizers of the festival that dates back more than 80 years are asking people to help rebuild the venue and park by donating at sterngrove.org or texting "sterngrove" to 56512.