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Outside Lands Festival revs up; claims it’s a benefit for Rec & Park

Posted on by Sarah B.

Last week, we got the first signs of life from the upcoming 2010 Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park, scheduled for August 14 – 15.

Event mascot “Ranger Dave” has started tweeting out hints about the lineup of bands for the music festival though the hints are a little too cryptic for me (or maybe I’m too lazy to do the research, LOL). I’ve included a few below – leave a comment if you solve one.

Eager Beaver tickets were on sale for a brief time but they sold out. So if you’re planning to get tickets, you’ll have to wait until June 1 when the lineup and ticket details are officially announced.

The festival has an expanded tagline this year: “Music. Food. Wine. Art.” That means that this year you’ll be able to sip fine wine and munch on gourmet food from local restaurants as you head toward the port-a-potties and navigate through sweaty concertgoers.

Richmond District eateries that will be part of the festival food selection include Gordo’s Taqueria, Namu (korean tacos!), and It’s It ice cream (which originated at Playland!).

Another conspicuous addition to the event this year – the tagline “Benefiting SF Rec & Park”. It’s sitting right above the logo on their homepage. Whose brilliant idea was that? Yes Rec & Park makes a good chunk of change on the show ($1.7 million last year), but it’s silly to position the concert as some sort of charity event for the always-low-on-budget department.

Sarah B.

ranger dave is in a japanese fraternal order with steve guttenberg.less than a minute ago via webRanger Dave
sfoutsidelands

ranger dave raises dionaea muscipula with bad attitudes.less than a minute ago via webRanger Dave
sfoutsidelands

ranger dave digs brass bands from Treme.less than a minute ago via webRanger Dave
sfoutsidelands

8 Comments

  1. We get nothing in comparison to the revenue generated. The park is just an ATM for the city these days. Yes the music blah blah, once you put wine and art in the advertising how cutting edge can it be?

  3. It sure doesn’t benefit the Western Neighborhoods Project (the original outsidelands!).

    Plus, closing a public park for a private event, bring in thousands of people, stages, trucks, etc… yet the Rec & Park is delighted to have this event and is trying to deny free long-time events like Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic.

  4. “ranger dave digs brass bands from Treme.”

    Seems like a reference to the Rebirth Brass Band, although the Dirty Dozen is a good guess also.

  5. It’s actually a really fun event. While it’s a (brief) inconvenience to the neighborhood, it’s totally worth it as something to do. It’d be great if the 90% of people who either have fun at events like these or don’t care either way could finally drown out the 10% that scream any time anything in SF changes. C’mon people, it’s THREE DAYS.

  6. @Scott – I really like the idea of the festival. As a music fan, it’s great to have big acts in our backyard. And last year’s festival was barely disruptive to the neighborhood; they did a good job of managing the noise and traffic. While I didn’t attend last year, I gave it a lot of positive coverage here on the blog.

    My only bone of contention is with its positioning as a benefit for Rec & Park. As Woody alluded to above, we have a decades old local event like Jimmy’s Car Picnic which gets denied their Speedway Permit for reasons that it is damaging to the meadow. And Jimmy’s is in fact a real charity event, and it lasts 1 day. More info here: https://richmondsfblog.com/2010/01/29/denied-jimmys-old-car-picnic-event-in-jeopardy/

    I appreciate the need for Rec & Park to make money and reduce their ever increasing budget deficit. But pretending Outside Lands, which is a 3 day event with thousands of people and a huge stage, is less stressful to the park is ridiculous. I wish they wouldn’t try to sugarcoat their thirst for $$ by using a misleading tagline like “Benefiting Rec & Park”.

  7. the parks dept. is run by thieves. this doesn’t generate money for the park like they claim. Yes they get 1.7 million but the promoters make a fortune off the overpriced tickets etc. and while I’m glad to see locals get the vending spots, the profit-making venture won’t pay for additional Muni service on those days (and their private service last year was a disaster).

    it’s especially galling to see this when they routinely kick out SF based events that are actual charities, like Woody said. But like everything in SF gov’t, lies and theivery win out over the public good.

  8. Yow! The original cool idea gets lost. Shutting out the little guy who really has been here throughout the years and giving real bucks for city programs is REALLY maddening. With shady accounting and non-profits formed just to do the Lands gig with no follow up that it benefits us- why would I want three days filled with wheelbarrows of money going out of town, the park gets trashed, locals get shut out of the park? Some credit due, the promoter has been responsive to the traffic etc and has made strides, props for that and the noise controls. The great bands and music are overshadowed as it all gets far from the truth, like the ads and accounting for example.

    The worst part is NOT the event. Now, folks in city hall that do not know the meaning of the word budget figure crappy ideas out to get pennies on the dollar. Like the Disney Peter pan show at the wharf? Hope you like it- the show may be here for a long time. Goodbye to using that space/views/traffic sucks. There is another special deal losing us money. How about the Hertz rent a car giveaway at the airport? Look at the many people at the top and the way $$ is given away to their buddies/ the large corporations. They turn around and donate to campaigns You have the answer why we have no money for soccer fields or childcare. Eric Mar I hope you are reading this and actually will do something about it beyond a proclamation. Ginsberg must go while we still have public parks.

    Above all be honest about the money- please- its insulting to pull that s*** Get Jimmy and the small events into the park, make it happen. Benefit local projects like the Western neighborhoods The big guys can certainly afford kicking in more money. Little guys with family events deserve some turf same as a band.
    Do that and I’ll be waving a flag to get people in for those 3 days

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