Friday, November 13, 2026
Doors open at 6:00 pm
Event starts at 7:00 pm and ends by 11:00 pm
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell St, San Francisco
sfzc.org/zenefit
In November of 1966, San Francisco Zen Center launched a series of fundraisers to help purchase Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. For nearly a year, local musicians, poets, thinkers, and spiritual leaders held events across the Bay Area to help raise enough money to purchase the old hot springs resort located deep in the Ventana Wilderness that would soon become our beloved monastery.
It’s in this spirit, exactly sixty years later, that we bring back the Zenefit to support Tassajara in this time of challenging fires and critical infrastructure repairs.
In a single, magical evening, Zenefit 2026 will bring together experimental musicians, poets, historians, and spoken-word and visual artists for an immersive night of live performance and unexpected collaboration. Psychedelic folk, improvisational soundscapes, beat poetry, meditative spoken word, and a liquid light show—all set against the ornate backdrop of the Great American Music Hall.
All proceeds support San Francisco Zen Center and the Tassajara Fire Recovery Fund, helping sustain the future of practice and community at Tassajara.
$60 General Admission
$160 VIP Balcony Seating
Tickets go on sale September 15.
Featuring
- Devendra Banhart (DJ set) Singer, songwriter, visual artist, and unique voice in contemporary psychedelic folk
- Yogetsu & Dambi Japanese beatboxer and Zen Buddhist monk collaborates with a contemporary sonic artist incorporating ancient contemplative traditions
- Dennis McNally Author, historian, and former archivist and publicist for the Grateful Dead.
- Colleen Morton Busch Bay Area poet and author of Smolder and Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire.
- Born I New York based spoken-word and rap artist, musician, author, Zen priest and meditation teacher.
- Chuck Gould An original member of the Diggers and photographer who documented San Francisco's 1960s counterculture
- Roger Hillyard and Christine Marie Pioneer of 1960’s San Francisco psychedelic liquid light shows, he creates immersive visual environments through handmade analog techniques
- Lonely Parrots San Francisco queer folk-pop duo Michael Martinez and Max Embers, known for their harmonies and acoustic sound
- Ben Gustin Northern California musician and former SFZC resident whose “Zen Buddhist Campfire Songs” began during his time at Tassajara
- Marc Lesser Zen teacher, author, former Tassajara director, and mindfulness educator in the SF Bay Area.
Additional artists to be announced. Check back for updates!
The Story of Zenefit
Zenefit has its roots in a remarkable moment in San Francisco history.
On November 13, 1966, San Francisco Zen Center launched a fundraising campaign to purchase Tassajara Hot Springs and establish a mountain monastery. Musicians, poets, artists, and members of the city's emerging counterculture came together to help make it happen. A benefit concert at the Avalon Ballroom featured the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and others. Additional benefits and gatherings happened for many months following. See this wonderful collection of old benefit posters on the Cuke.com website for details.
November 13, 2026 (exactly 60 years later) Zenefit returns in that same spirit of connection—where music, art, practice, and community meet. One night. One legendary room. A collision of sound, poetry, improvisation, and contemplative practice to support Tassajara's recovery.
