Outside Lands Festival

A beautiful setting for a music festival. For people who love summer music festivals but hate the heat - this is the one for you. Just watch out for the sun and swarms of bees.

Nobody can deny the beauty of the park - nature in the middle of a city - and lots of it. When you walk into this park you are transported - on concert days like this your still transported out of the city but its got such an energy buzz to it with all the happy enthusiastic people.

Its foggy and cold - and somehow you need to still watch out for sun burns. I don't know how but the UV light pierces right through the fog and shade and gets you - burns you to a crisp. I'd love to throw a little bit in here about skin cancer - but I'll save it for some other place.

This year I think most people came for The Killers Chappell Roan. Both just wildly popular - one still emerging and the other aging and past their heyday. Then there was Post Malone's country stuff that wasn't for everybody.

On Sunday the timing of the artists was strange - one of the most popular artists had a terrible time slot of 4pm and the headliner nobody even heard of before. Whomever created the schedule of that day really needs to be fired. I mean really, you've got one job and you couldn't do it.

People complain that this festival is too expensive. I think if you go for all the days that is true - but if you pick one day and take advantage of all the lesser known artists its not a horrible deal. I think the bigger consideration is if you have the energy for it.... Unless your 20 years old this sort of thing can be a bit draining. I recommend you come to one of these the sooner the better. Your not getting any younger.

This was my first year at Outside Lands and I had a great time! I was lucky enough to work at one of the food booths, and as payment, I got a day pass into the festival. I ended up going on Friday and Sunday, mainly because that's when artists I knew (namely the Killers and Chappell Roan) were performing.

One of my favorite things about Outside Lands has to be the location. Golden Gate Park is a beautiful space, and I feel like Outside Lands really takes advantage of that. For example, the largest stage is on Polo Field, and the Lindley Meadow stage is situated at the bottom of a hill, meaning the crowd has a good view from wherever they're standing.

Another aspect of the festival that really caught my attention was the diversity of the food vendors. This was not your typical $15-a-slice concert venue pizza. They had booths serving a wide variety of cuisine, ranging from Middle Eastern to Vietnamese to Korean. Even though the food was on the expensive side, it was so worth it because it was all delicious.

Moving on to the main draw of the festival, all of the artists I saw were amazing. Granted, I only saw two of them, but they delivered! First, the Killers sounded amazing, especially when they played Mr. Brightside (twice!), which is one of my favorite songs. Second, Chappell Roan is phenomenal. Her voice is great, her stage presence is captivating, and she sure knows how to fire up a crowd; everyone was jumping around and belting out the lyrics to all her songs.

I also felt like the general vibes throughout the festival were positive. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood and have a good time despite the foggy weather, but it's SF, so that's to be expected.

My only couple of nitpicks were that the lineup wasn't super stacked, and parking was tough. Although I didn't go last year, I heard from a lot of people that there were more big names than this year. And as for the parking, I ended up paying $50 to park at a nearby school one day and parking close to a mile and a half away the next day.

These aside, Outside Lands provided a great opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Golden Gate Park, listen to some great music, and enjoy some awesome food! I think I'll be coming back next year!

08/9/2024-08/11/2024: Outside Lands Festival in San Fransisco, CA. I had traveled here for work just myself. Crowd was huge plenty of people from all over the bay. Employee parking was easy, and convenient of having carts and shuttle pick up or else walking from lot to stages were so long. Check in process for too hidden and of far away distance. Several different set up stages with all separate themes. Security team had been divided and routinely completed check points accordingly to sections.

OSL holds a very special place in my heart, so many good memories here. 2023 was the first time returning to OSL post pandemic (and my 6th or so time in the past decade). Much has changed.

The good:
- The 2023 edition gave us some awesome moments with the Foo Fighters surprising us with Michael Bublé, Zedd making himself and the crowd go up and down, Megan Thee Stallion being an absolute boss, Kendrick being the insane poet he is, Janelle Monae bringing a passionate, fun set.
- I was pleasantly surprised with the veggie food offerings: from classic offerings like cheese pizza and quesadilla to more creative and unique options like plant-based sausage with curry ketchup, pretzels and hot dogs.
- It's a beautiful setting for a festival, especially at night when the trees light up amongst the fog. It creates an enchanting mystical atmosphere.

The bad:
- The number of great artists per day has declined. Often only the main acts are worth it and they have the best two of the day go on at the same time. Want to see Zedd and Kendrick? Foo Fighters and Lana del Rey? You better be ok with either FOMO or lots of walking and trying to get out/in of a huge crowd. Back in ye olde day you would have several more big hitters in the same day.
- We had VIP tickets for 3 days, it was not worth it. The VIP section was only a tad less busy, food sold out so fast, people claiming all seats for their groups like they were on a beach vacation and putting towels.
- It's a lot of walking and given how crowded it was, it's not the pleasant kind.
- Karl the fog shows up in all his glory making it reaaaaaaaal chilly in the evening especially for the main act. Bring your layers.
- Not sure if it's me getting older but would not do 3 days next time.

The ugly:
- Wowee they want all your moneys. Let's be real: the tickets + the drinks + the food + the merch + the Ubers there and back. It all adds up real fast. $30 for an 8oz glass of wine, why?
- TOO. MANY. PEOPLE. I remember this festival as always being busy but never as insane as it was this time around. It seemed like double, no jk. This resulted in lines everywhere, all the time. It felt like waaay too much and (going to sound real old now) honestly a safety hazard.

This year was my first time at OSL and overall it was a blast! Was it crazy expensive? Absolutely, but I fully expected that. The food vendors were truly impressive, as well as the drink selection. Some of my favorites were the Potato Pelmeni and Chicken Pirozhki from Borsch Mobile, the Croissant Waffles from D.R.E.A.M., the Fried Chicken Sandwich from Sorrel, Chicken Pad Thai from Kitiya, and the Wagyu Truffle Burger from Konjoe Burger. Everything was very pricy, but I didn't have a single bad meal. For drinks, I loved the Aperol Spritz bar, but they also had cocktails, mocktails, beer, wine, and anything else you could possibly want.

There were definitely a few negatives, starting with security. All three days, no one even glanced at my backpack, as security was just trying to keep the line moving. I saw plenty of people not adhering to the clear bag policy and it really felt like anyone could sneak anything in. The second negative was the schedule. I was initially confused why it was taking them so long to release the schedule, but I'm sure they knew it would disappoint people and wanted to sell out the tickets first. The overlapping sets (especially on Sunday) meant I got to see way fewer of the artists I was actually excited for. I understand the need for crowd control, but ODESZA, Noah Kahan, and The 1975 all at the same time? Heartbreaking! Overall though we still had an amazing time, and I would return in the future!

After taking a couple years off, I recently made my return to Outside Lands in 2023 for a single day.

A GA single day ticket this year was $225 after taxes and fees. Considering how many artists you can potentially see it's not bad compared to going to a single artist concert. The food lineup was really good this year, however those festival prices start to add up on you real quick.

Lines, lines, lines, it felt like everywhere I went, I had to wait in some long ass line. Food, drinks, bathrooms, you name it, it's unavoidable. The music quality is good but there's little to no production behind a lot of these sets. The stages look exactly the same every year. I heard Odesza was the only one to really utilize the lasers, lights, and even had fireworks.

Whoever made the set times this year, really made it tough to see the people we wanted to see because they all conflicted. While I understand crowd control, it's just a shame they couldn't stagger acts better. It feels like they oversold the event, which adds to it being a cluster when moving stage to stage.

The one place to get your edm fix (SOMA tent) was closed because the dance floor collapsed earlier in the day. Considering how much people spend to be here, you'd think they'd build proper and safe stages.

The merch this year was really well done. Kudos to the design team that made it happen. They had some really cool pieces and of course we went home with a blanket.

Getting to the park wasn't bad but those post event Uber rates are ridiculous. To avoid the public transportation situation, we drove up earlier in the day and parked a car near the park so we could walk to it afterwards and our DD was able to get us home.

I've been to plenty of festivals (big and small) and in terms of power rankings, OSL doesn't crack my top 5. Will I go again, probably just because it's something to do and it's close to home. Probably VIP is worth the extra so you don't have to deal with the crowds and underage crowd as much.

This isn't a festival that I believe is worth traveling long distances for. When you factor in ticket prices, food costs, transportation, cold weather, it's just not worth the price for what I believe you get. Rather spend that money to go travel to a festival.

This was the first festival I've been to where I'm like okay yea this is more my vibe. I mean music in a forest!!! How awesome!!! HOWEVER omg the spaces are so narrow like why??? There's def more space to be utilized here and I think the different stages can def be more wide so it's not as suffocating when you all leave together. The food was also not THAT good. In the app, it looks amazing but In reality, it's so mediocre. Ofc it's overpriced but you're at a festival like what do you expect. But I love the elevation in the ground so you can better see performers. I would go again!

Wack crowd, and line up was ok but crowd made it suck. Food was a lot of local vendors which was cool. Parking and access getting there blows

First concert in awhile! Lots of people. Huge turnout for all those who have been stuck without concerts due to covid. Great lineup, tasty foods and drinks, and can't forget about Weedlands!

Food/drinks:
So much of it, but pricey. Foods range from pizza, to Thai, hamburgers, Cambodian, Creole, and much more. Very surprised about the variety of food choices here, which was both fantastic and hard because of so many great choices. Lots of beer, event was sponsored by Heineken.

Lineup:
Was decent. Some of the headlines bands did not live up to the hype... One of the headliners Young Thug canceled making event goers angry...

Weedlands:
Smaller set up from what I've heard from previous years... still a very cool and unique area of Outside Lands where you can purchase and consume weed in public setting with friends and other event goers.

Overall:
A unique experience with lots to see, eat, and listen too. Might not be a yearly thing to do, but maybe every two years this festival would be worth it!

I swore to myself 3 years ago that I will never return for this festival... until this past Sunday when I impulse bought tickets.

The cocktails and drinks here are ridiculously weak. Super overpriced for what you get and what the alcohol content is. Swear I was just drinking juice. Also really sad that I couldn't buy shots or change how a drink was made since everything was premade.

I was able to eat the carnitas nachos from the Tacos & Nachos vendor. I asked for extra cheese on the side (bc why not) and these nachos were really good! (Or i was just really faded).

I genuinely hate the crowd at outside lands - which is why I told myself I'd never come back. Same thing happened this past Sunday - Rude and inconsiderate crowd.

Music is always a vibe though don't get me wrong. Troyboi, Green Velvet, Tame, Rufus, Kehlani.... chef's kiss!