Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-08-19
The original Furthur bus, the legendary psychedelic hand-painted 1939 International Harvester school bus that carried Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters across the country in 1964, is leaving its longtime home on the Kesey family farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, for the first time since 1969. The historic bus is traveling south on a flatbed to San Francisco, where it will make its first-ever public exhibition as the centerpiece of Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park, presented by Haight Street Art Center from September 5 through October 25, 2026, at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park.
The limited public viewing marks a major moment for one of the most recognizable artifacts of American counterculture and the beginning of a comprehensive, multi-phased restoration project led by the Furthur Down the Road Foundation in coordination with the Kesey family and Haight Street Art Center.
Immortalized in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Furthur carried Kesey and the Merry Pranksters on their legendary 1964 cross-country journey, driven in part by Neal Cassady. The bus became an enduring symbol of the experimentation, communal creativity and participatory spirit that defined the era. The Merry Pranksters' Acid Tests also played an important role in the early history of the Grateful Dead, who became the house band for the events beginning in late 1965 and whose performances helped shape the band's participatory approach for decades to come.
Since being rescued from decades of exposure to the elements, Furthur has remained in protective storage in Oregon, seen by the public primarily through photographs rather than in person. Its appearance in San Francisco offers a rare opportunity to experience the original artifact before restoration begins.
“Very few institutions are ever entrusted with a moment like this,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of Haight Street Art Center. “Thanks to Stephanie and Zane Kesey, we have the rare privilege of bringing Furthur into public view for the first and only time before it enters restoration — a chance to stand before the actual bus that carried Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters across the country, not a photograph or a replica, but the object itself. We take that responsibility seriously, both in how we present Furthur and in how we help build public support for the restoration work that lies ahead.”
At Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park, Furthur will anchor an immersive celebration of the visual and participatory history surrounding the Grateful Dead and the broader counterculture. The exhibition will also feature Jerry Garcia's personal BMW and a 1:4-scale replica of the Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound PA system, along with original artwork, ephemera, large-scale projections, puppetry, live performers, hands-on activities and community storytelling installations.
“Anchored by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ iconic ‘Furthur’ bus and Jerry Garcia’s BMW, the exhibition brings visitors right back to the bedrock where so much of the Grateful Dead’s history actually happened,” Harris said.
The exhibition is designed not simply as a historical display but as a participatory environment where visitors can engage with the music, art and communities that grew from the era. In that setting, Furthur takes on both historical and contemporary meaning — as a surviving artifact of the 1960s and as a living symbol of the community and creative culture that developed around the Grateful Dead.
A Restoration Decades in the Making
“When people ask what my best work is, it's the bus,” Ken Kesey told The Spokesman-Review in 2000. “Those books made it possible for the bus to become.”
For years, the Smithsonian Institution and others expressed interest in acquiring Furthur, but the Kesey family chose to keep the bus until the right opportunity emerged to preserve its history while returning it to public view.
That next chapter begins with the exhibition in Golden Gate Park. Following the close of Forever Grateful, the bus will enter the first phase of a long-term restoration led by Stephanie Kesey, Ken Kesey's daughter-in-law and founder of the Furthur Down the Road Foundation, an Oregon nonprofit established to raise funds for the restoration of Furthur to its original 1960s condition and to preserve Kesey's legacy for future generations.
Stephanie Kesey will work with the Haight Street Art Center team, led by Board Chair Roger McNamee, to develop and carry out a multi-phase restoration plan.
“Furthur has been out of public sight for more than fifty years, and that changes what restoring it means,” said Stephanie Kesey, founder of the Furthur Down the Road Foundation. “Our work is twofold: preserve the original bus for generations to come, and put it back in front of the people it was always meant to reach — before restoration begins, and permanently once it's complete. We chose Haight Street Art Center because their exhibition Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park is the right setting for Furthur’s first public appearance, and because their board and staff understand, as we do, what it takes to carry this history forward.”
The Foundation's restoration effort will seek to preserve not only the physical structure and distinctive artwork of the bus, but also its cultural history and significance. The project is intended to ensure that Furthur remains accessible to future generations as an original artifact of the Merry Pranksters, Ken Kesey and the counterculture movement that helped shape the San Francisco music and arts scene.
As part of the exhibition's opening events, Grahame Lesh & Friends will perform a free public concert on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park, featuring an all-star lineup of musicians.
Event Details
What: Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park, featuring the original Furthur bus
When: September 5–October 25, 2026
Where: County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers), Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
Special Event: Free Grahame Lesh & Friends concert, Monday, September 7, 2–6 p.m., Robin Williams Meadow
Admission: The companion Haight Street Art Center exhibition is free; the Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park immersive experience is ticketed.
