This weekend, August 9-11, marks year 12 for the massive music festival Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. The 3-day festival will attract over 200,000 concertgoers to the park’s west end starting this Friday.
This year’s headliners include Paul Simon, The Lumineers, Childish Gambino, Blink-182, and Leon Bridges, plus several dozen more artists performing on four stages in the venues at Golden Gate Park. View the full lineup or check out the schedule by day. Single day, 3-day and VIP passes are still available as of publication.
There is also an Outside Lands mobile app for iPhone.
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.
Oh and that may not just be fog clouds you see hanging over the festival grounds this year… San Francisco granted a cannabis use permit for this year’s festival and the state of California has ok’d the sale and consumption of cannabis at the festival in a fenced-off area (“Grasslands“) of the festival grounds limited to people 21 years and older.
WHEN & WHERE
The festival runs for three days, beginning Friday, August 9 through Sunday, August 11. 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 (9:35pm on Sunday).
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 10am-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 and once registered/activated, cannot be removed from the concertgoer’s wrist. All food, beer and merchandise stands will accept regular credit card and cash payments too. ATM’s will be located inside the festival grounds.
This year, the festival has revised their bag policy a bit. See the graphic below for a guide on what types of bags are allowed.
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.
- Polo Field Complex: Mon. 7/29, 12:01am – Fri. 8/16, 11:59pm
- Middle Drive Between MLK to Polo Field to Overlook: Mon. 7/29, 12:01am – Fri. 8/16, 11:59pm
- Access to Polo Field via Little Speedway Meadow Bike Path: Mon. 7/29, 12:01am – Fri. 8/16, 11:59pm
- McLaren Path (wooded area between Polo Field and JFK Dr.): Tue. 7/30, 12:01am – Wed. 8/14, 11:59pm
- Hellman Hollow: Sat. 8/3, 7pm – Wed. 8/14, 11:59pm
- Lindley Meadow: Sat. 8/3, 7pm – Tue. 8/13, 11:59pm
- Little Speedway Meadow: Sun. 8/4, 12:01am – Thu. 8/15, 11:59pm
- Angler’s Lodge Upper Parking Lot: Thu. 8/1 12:01am – Tues. 8/13, 11:59pm
- Angler’s Lodge Lower Parking Lot: Mon. 8/5, 12:01am – Tues. 8/13, 11:59pm
- Marx Meadow: Wed. 7/31, 12:01am – Fri. 8/2 at 11:59pm AND Mon. 8/5, 12:01am – Wed. 8/14, 11:59pm
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.
Lyft and Uber drivers will be directed to an officially designated drop off / pick up points at 30th Ave & Balboa Street (North side) and 36th Ave between Irving Street and Judah Street (South side).
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 – 10am-11pm
$30 per car (cash or credit cards accepted) [CONFIRMED FOR 2019
2) Washington High School- Enter on 30th Ave between Geary & Anza
Hours: Friday through Sunday, 11am–10:30pm
$30 per car
3) Jefferson Elementary – 1725 Irving Street @ 19th Avenue (SUNSET DISTRICT)
Hours: Friday & Saturday – 10am-10:30pm, Sunday 10am-10:15pm
$30 per car
4) Lawton School – enter on 30th Avenue between Lawton & Kirkham (SUNSET DISTRICT)
Hours: Friday through Sunday – 10am-11pm.
$30 per entry per day. No overnight parking or will tow. Cash or major credit cards accepted. Reserved prepaid parking also available. Email parking@lawtonpta.com for more info on prepaid parking. [CONFIRMED FOR 2019]
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. 8/9 – Sun. 8/11). The hotline number this year 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.
Again this year, Lyft and Uber drivers are being directed to an officially designated drop off / pick up point for ride share companies at 30th Ave & Balboa Street (North side) and 36th Ave between Irving Street and Judah Street (South side).
Have a rockin’ weekend!
Sarah B.
Short of Paul Simon, looks missable.
Lafayette Elementary is under construction and will not be offering parking this year.
I think the same may be true of George Washington as well but I can’t say that one for sure.
I can’t wait! First I am hitting up Grasslands, then going to find something to eat. There is so much amazing food it really is the “Taste of the Bay Area”. Next stop I’ll probably grab a craft beer at Beer Lands and then check out the best bands I’ve never heard of! Last year we went and saw an artist I knew nothing about – Lizzo – and it was incredibly good she is now one of my favorites. Even though tickets are very expensive, I personally have found it is best to not judge Outside Lands by the music lineup because there is so much more to the experience. It takes place in an incredible setting, the climate suits my clothes and when it lets out I have a short walk home.
Need trash/recycling along high pedistrian traffic. E.G., 25th Ave and Fulton. I live close to this intersection where people traverse to enter the event. People are emptying their cans/bottles and leaving their empties in the stairwells of the homes. I’ve been picking up bottles and cans since Friday left by people. I’ve given up today but bottles and cans are piling up in my neighbors stairs and I’ve just disposed of five bottles of beers, two empty water bottles, and five cans of assorted drinks. Also, people poured out their drinks into my flower bed and when I sprayed down my walls by my garage door, I can smell urine. Thank you Outside Lands for making my neighborhood a trash heap and holding the neighborhood residents hostage for three days each year. I’ve called the Hotline listed above and requested trash/recycle bins be made available for my intersection at 3 pm, Saturday. Lets see what happens.