Dead Fans Offered A Public Ceremony

Grateful Dead fans who have already spent days mourning Jerry Garcia will get a chance today to remember him at a public memorial that promises to turn a park into a sea of tie-dye.

A private funeral was held Friday for Garcia in nearby Belvedere. The public memorial at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park will give fans an “equal opportunity to share their grief and experience the mourning together,” band manager Cameron Sears said.

The City of San Francisco, Bill Graham Presents and the Grateful Dead jointly announced the event, scheduled for between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A specific ceremony was not planned, but a large altar was to be erected and fans were encouraged “to leave a poem, light a candle or say a prayer to his memory,” organizers said.

There was no live music planned and Grateful Dead band members were not expected to attend.