Metallica will perform at Outside Lands 2017 on Saturday at 7:55pm.
This weekend is year 10 for the massive music festival Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. The 3-day festival will attract over 100,000 concertgoers to the park’s west end starting Friday.
This year’s headliners include Metallica, The Who, Gorillaz, Lorde, Alt-J and Cage the Elephant, plus several dozen more artists performing on four stages in the Golden Gate Park venues. View the full lineup or check out the schedule by day. Single day tickets are still available as of publication; 3 day tickets are sold out.
There is also an Outside Lands mobile app for iPhone and Android.
If you live near the park and will be welcoming people to the neighborhood each day, here are some tips to help you negotiate the crowds and traffic – and give the best advice to the thousands of concertgoers that will be visiting the festival every day this weekend.
Lionel Richie performs at the festival in 2016. Photo by FilmMagic
WHEN & WHERE
The festival runs for three days, beginning Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13. Venues in Golden Gate Park include the Polo Fields (main stage), Hellman Hollow, Marx Meadow and Lindley Meadow. On all three days, gates open at 11am, music begins at 12noon, and music ends at 10pm (9:40pm on Sunday).
The 2017 Outside Lands festival map. Click to view a larger version
For the first time this year, the festival box office will be located near the intersection of Fulton and 25th Avenue, just inside the park. The box office is open Wednesday and Thursday (12pm-8pm), and on festival days from 9am-9pm.
Entrances into the festival are located at 30th Avenue and Fulton (Main Gate) and 36th and Fulton on the north side of the park, and near 36th Avenue and Lincoln Way on the south side of the park.
If you’re entering the Park from the north (Richmond District), enter at 25th Avenue and Fulton Street and walk along the pedestrian path to enter at the Main Entrance. You can also enter at 36th Avenue and Fulton Street and walk up John F. Kennedy Drive towards Lindley Meadow.
Once again, concert tickets are worn as wristbands which once registered/activated, cannot be removed from the concertgoer’s wrist (register your wristband here). Cashless payments are also back where the wristband can be used as a digital wallet for attendees to make purchases at the festival. Concertgoers can link their wristband to their credit or debit card with the wristband, and then just swipe it to make purchases for food etc. All food, beer and merchandise stands will still accept regular credit card and cash payments too. ATM’s will be located inside the festival grounds.
Photo by Andrew Jorgensen
TUNE IN VIA WEBSTREAM
The webstream schedule has not been published yet but you can tune in via go90.com. Organizers typically stream various acts throughout the festival starting in the afternoons. AOL.com will also stream from the festival every day from 4:30pm until 7:30pm.
TRAFFIC & VENUE CLOSURES
During the festival, the venues and roads around Golden Gate Park are closed to the general public and all car traffic due to cyclone fencing which has already started going up. If you want to get through or around the park this weekend, plan on using Park Presidio / 19th Avenue, Stanyan, or the Great Highway (and don’t expect it to be quick).
Here’s a map of the entrances to the park that will be closed to car traffic during the festival:
Several areas of the park will be closed prior to the start of the festival and afterwards for festival setup / teardown (list below). For the first time this year, JFK between Transverse and 36th Ave. will be closed to vehicle traffic from 9am – 4pm from Monday 8/7 through Thursday 8/10, as well as on Monday 8/14 and Tuesday 8/15. During that time, a bike lane will be created and speed warning signs will be posted.
- Polo Field Complex: Mon. 7/31, 12:01am – Fri. 8/18, 11:59pm
- Middle Drive Between MLK to Polo Field to Overlook: Mon. 7/31, 12:01am – Fri. 8/18, 11:59pm
- Access to Polo Field via Little Speedway Meadow Bike Path: Mon. 7/31 ,12:01am – Fri. 8/18, 11:59pm
- McLaren Path: Tue. 8/1, 12:01am – Wed. 8/16, 11:59pm
- Hellman Hollow: Sat. 8/5, 7pm – Wed. 8/16, 11:59pm
- Lindley Meadow: Sun. 8/6, 7pm – Tue. 8/15, 11:59pm
- Little Speedway Meadow: Mon. 8/7, 12:01am – Thu. 8/17, 11:59pm
- Marx Meadow: Wed. 8/2, 12:01am – Fri. 8/4 at 11:59pm AND Mon. 8/7, 12:01am – Wed. 8/16, 11:59pm
- * Lloyd Lake, Metson Lake, Spreckels Lake and the Dog Run will be closed to vehicles Fri. 8/11 – Fri. 8/13.
- * JFK Dr. between Transverse Dr. and 36th Ave will be closed to non-ticket holder pedestrian traffic Fri. 8/11 – Fri. 8/13.
Other Park Areas:
Photo by Jeff Kravitz
PARKING & TRANSPORTATION
There is no official car parking for the Outside Lands Festival, so expect parking to be really tight in the outer Richmond District this weekend. Concertgoers will also be arriving by festival shuttle, by foot, MUNI, taxi, or bike. The festival offers free valet bike parking beginning at 10am every day.
Note that this year, Lyft and Uber drivers are being directed to an officially designated drop off and pick up point at Washington High School, located at 30th Ave. & Balboa St.
Schools in the neighborhood also open up their lots and raise money by charging for parking. Below is the list of school lots that should be open. Except where noted, this information is from previous years so fees and hours may vary once you’re at the lot:
1) Argonne Elementary – 680 18th Avenue @ Cabrillo Street
Hours: Friday through Sunday – 11am-11pm
$30 per car (credit cards accepted) [CONFIRMED FOR 2017]
2) Lafayette Elementary – 4545 Anza Street @ 36th Avenue
Hours: Friday thru Sunday, 10am-11pm
$40 per car
3) Washington High School- Enter on 30th Ave between Geary & Anza
Hours: Friday through Sunday, 11am–10:30pm
$30 per car
4) Jefferson Elementary – 1725 Irving Street @ 19th Avenue (SUNSET DISTRICT)
Hours: Friday & Saturday – 10am-10:30pm, Sunday 10am-10:15pm
$30 per car
5) Lawton School – enter on 30th Avenue between Lawton & Kirkham (SUNSET DISTRICT)
Hours: Friday through Sunday – 10am-11pm.
$40 per car. Credit cards or paypal accepted. Reserved prepaid parking is available; text 415-742-2573 for more info. [CONFIRMED FOR 2017]
The weather.com forecast for zip code 94121 this weekend.
COMPLAINTS? QUESTIONS? BLOCKED DRIVEWAY?
As in past years, the festival has set up a Community Hotline to respond to any issues that may affect you during the festival. The Outside Lands festival hotline will be available from 10:00am – 11:00PM on the festival days (Fri. 8/11 – Sun. 8/13). The hotline number is (415) 965-8001.
There will also be two dedicated tow trucks and one Parking Control Officer on each side of the Park to quickly respond to any blocked driveways or any other parking issues related to the Festival. You can also call SFMTA Parking Enforcement directly at 415-553-1237 or 415-553-1200 if you need to have a car towed.
Note that this year, Lyft and Uber drivers are being directed to an officially designated drop off and pick up point at Washington High School, located at 30th Ave. & Balboa St.
Have a rockin’ weekend!
Sarah B.
Photo by FilmMagic
Hopefully the weather will change and clear up.
When we have a low fog ceiling, the sound bounces off the clouds and rattles my house. When it’s clear, I can barely hear the music.
Fingers crossed for a sunny weekend.
As a mountain biker, it sure would be nice to see a detailed map showing exactly where the cyclone fence will be located. Anyone know if it will be placed through the red X’s shown on the map above? Thx.
The fencing encloses the area bounded by JFK, Chain of Lakes, MLK, and Transverse; plus a few other areas like Spreckles, disc golf area.
What about teen science night at the academy of sciences….any thoughts of the parking/traffic impact on that side of the park? Might have to skip that event at the academy due to impact of Outside Lands. Thanks.
I’m glad the weekend is cloudy. My neighbor is illegally running an “AirBnB” out of their apartment and we are forced dealing with unwanted guests who shouldn’t have keys to our building because of this event!!
It’s extremely loud this year! I am sick and want to rest today but I can hear the loud noise from every corner of my home.
It’s true, Svene, louder than last year to me too.
Many of us like to WALK through our park, yet for the 2nd time Outside lands closes the entire JFK Drive sidewalk making it impossible to walk west or east past the event. in years prior, they only fenced their venues – the individual fields – not blocking the entire road off with double high fencing. How did it come to pass that they can close a public road night and day? Do they expect us to buy a ticket to walk?!? Of course not. Supervisor Fewer, please address public access to our Golden Gate Park.