San Francisco’s biggest music festival, Outside Lands, is coming to Golden Gate Park this weekend with a 2024 lineup that includes The Killers, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Post Malone, Grace Jones and Victoria Monét.
But if you nabbed tickets to the three-day festival that starts Friday, Aug. 9 and lasts through Sunday, Aug. 11, you might have questions about parking, public transit, the bag policy and more. After all, Outside Lands is a huge, sprawling event that takes over a large part of Golden Gate Park and impacts a lot of the surrounding areas of the Richmond and Sunset districts in San Francisco.
So keep reading for our guide to this year’s Outside Lands festival with everything you need to know, from what to bring to Outside Lands, the weather in Golden Gate Park, how to buy tickets and how will call works, maps of the festival, road closures and more.
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In previous years, tickets have frequently sold out a few days before the festival.
The Outside Lands will call opens at 10 a.m., gates open at 11 a.m., and the music lineup begins at 12 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9, Saturday, Aug. 10 and Sunday, Aug. 11.
Take a look at the Outside Lands lineup and full schedule for each day to see when each act is playing.
If you bought your tickets after July 30, you’ll have to pick up your wristband at will call in Golden Gate Park during the week of the festival or when you first arrive at Outside Lands. (The box office at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is no longer open for picking up Outside Lands wristbands.)
You can pick up your wristband at the Marx Meadow will call (25th & Fulton) in Golden Gate Park, which is open:
If you have a VIP or Golden Gate Club ticket, you can use the VIP will call at 36th and JFK Drive, near the VIP entrance, which is open on festival days only (10:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m. Sunday.)
What if you purchased your Outside Lands tickets before July 30 but haven’t received your wristbands yet? Festival organizers say if you didn’t receive a tracking number by this week, you should submit a request with Front Gate Tickets as soon as possible.
Outside Lands organizers (and KQED reporters) recommend ticket holders don’t drive to the festival — and when you read our information about road closures and the parking situation, you may understand why.
Road closures for Outside Lands
These are the entrances closed on the north side of Golden Gate Park, according to the park’s official website: Transverse Drive at Crossover Drive, JFK Drive at Transverse Drive, 30th Avenue, 36th Avenue, 43rd Avenue (Chain of Lakes), 47th Avenue and The Great Highway at JFK Drive.
These are the entrances closed on the south side of the park: Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Crossover Drive, 25th Avenue, Sunset Boulevard at Irving Street, 41st Avenue (Chain of Lakes) and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Lincoln Avenue.
Below is a map of the road closures near the park. Roads will be closed from Thursday, Aug. 8 at 8 p.m. to Sunday, Aug. 13 at 11 p.m..
If you have any questions about road closures or restrictions, you can call 415-965-8001 or email community@sfoutsidelands.com.
Where can I get picked up or dropped off at Outside Lands?
If you’re looking for a good pickup or drop-off point — either for yourself or because you’re someone else’s ride — Outside Lands recommends “several blocks north or south of the park” — particularly advising that you try Geary Boulevard or Balboa Street to the north or Irving Street to the south.
In the Outer Richmond (the north side of the park near the high school), you can get picked up or dropped off at:
Advice for using rideshares and taxis
If you use rideshare apps like Lyft or Uber, the official Outside Lands pickup and drop-off locations are Balboa & 30th Avenue or Irving Street between 25th and 27th avenues. Be aware that these apps will impose dynamic pricing for an event like Outside Lands, which will make even a short ride much more expensive than usual.
If you are using a taxi to get to or from Outside Lands any time from Friday, Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. to Monday, Aug. 11 at 2 a.m., there are taxi stands:
Are there no-go areas for pickup and drop-off for Outside Lands?
Outer Sunset, south side of the park:
Outer Richmond, north side of the park:
Golden Gate Park from Friday at 11 a.m. to Sunday at 11:59 p.m.:
Let’s get this out of the way: There is no “official” general parking for Outside Lands. (Jump straight to more information on accessible parking below.)
Remember, if you’re choosing to try to park near Outside Lands, break-ins are common in San Francisco — so leave nothing visible in your vehicle, and if at all possible, leave your trunk exposed to show it’s empty. Never leave any electronics like laptops in your vehicle, even if you think they’re hidden. Read our full guide to reducing your chances of suffering a car break-in in San Francisco (and if you’re unlucky enough to have your car broken into, our guide to how to claim the costs of window repair and stolen items from your insurance.)
Can I pay to use a resident’s parking spot?
Some schools near Golden Gate Park sell their parking during Outside Lands to fundraise money, such as Argonne Elementary School (which does not take reservations.)
Residents around Golden Gate Park may also sell their parking spaces to festival visitors. You can find these on Reddit, Facebook or even by trolling through the Sunset District in person and seeing who has signed up. If you choose to go this route to find parking, stay extra vigilant for scams, and make sure you’re always sending money to the right person.
What about blocking a driveway, even if it’s mine?
According to the SFMTA, the San Francisco Transportation Code allows residents to park in the street and block their own driveway “provided the driveway does not serve more than two tenants.” Any multifamily units of three or more, SFMTA says, may not block their own driveway. Vehicles may also never be parked on the sidewalk.
During Outside Lands, the SFMTA will enforce blocked driveways “on a complaint basis only,” SFMTA says. Of course, that’s not giving you free rein to block a person’s driveway — they’ll almost certainly make that complaint and have you towed if they don’t recognize your car.
Getting to Outside Lands using SF Muni
Muni will provide extra service on the N Judah and 5R Fulton Rapid. However, remember: The extra service on 5R will not serve the entire route. Each night of the festival, there will be a Muni 5X Fulton Express service from Golden Gate Park to Civic Center BART Station.
Bookmark the SFMTA website for a comprehensive list of extra stops provided by Muni for the weekend of Outside Lands.
Using the official Outside Lands shuttle
You can hop a ride on the Outside Lands’ shuttle, which departs from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to the south entrance of Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. Civic Center BART station is next to the Bill Graham Auditorium.
The service will begin running each day at 11 a.m. and run “continuously all day with limited coverage” from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the last shuttle to the festival leaving Bill Graham Civic Auditorium at 8 p.m. As for getting back, return shuttles run until one hour after the music ends each night, festival organizers say.
Outside Lands officials strongly recommend taking BART to Civic Center to pick up the official shuttle, but if you do drive, paid parking is available in the Civic Center Parking Garage adjacent to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for a fee (entrance at McAllister Street between Polk Street and Larkin Street.)
Getting to Outside Lands on BART
The nearest BART station to Golden Gate Park is Civic Center. From there, you can travel onward to Outside Lands using SF Muni or use the official paid Outside Lands shuttle, which departs from the nearby Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
BART service will run until “around midnight” on all three days, the Outside Lands official guidance says. Parking at BART stations with BART-run parking lots is free after 3 p.m. on Friday and free all day on Saturday and Sunday (except for the Milpitas and Berryessa/North San Jose stations, which still charge on weekends).
Getting to Outside Lands by bike
You can park your bikes at the festival, with parking available at the eastern and southern parts of the festival site. See a map of bike route closures and detours for Outside Lands.
Bay Wheels, run by rideshare app Lyft, is available at the festival on JFK Drive, just east of Transverse Drive, to park your bike or get a bike home. Use this website to find Bay Wheels near you.
Phil Ginsburg, general manager of San Francisco Parks and Recreation, told KQED in 2023 that exit routes are “very well marked and the strategies for both entering and leaving the festival are pretty well established at this point and we’ll have tons of security and there’s a lot of lightning in the area to keep people safe as they exit the festival.”
Use BART’s Trip Planner and SFMTA’s Trip Planner to check what time the last service of the day is.
If you’re hoping to get a rideshare like Uber or Lyft home from Outside Lands, remember those recommended pickup locations around Golden Gate Park — and that dynamic surge pricing for these services will almost certainly mean that ordering an Uber or Lyft home will be pretty pricey. (If you’re determined, you may wish to consider pre-organizing a crew to share the ride and split the cost.)
No, keep your wristband on your wrist if you’re attending multiple days of Outside Lands. (It’s waterproof, so you can shower with it.)
Ticketholders all get a wristband — and festival organizers want you to “treat it like cash.” In other words, the festival won’t replace your wristband if it gets lost or stolen. Do not cut it or twist your wristband because it can fray, and the festival will not replace it in those cases, either.
Same-day reentry is not allowed. But if you have to leave the festival, festival organizers ask that you speak with a supervising staff member at an exit before leaving to work out the details.
There is a designated ADA Entrance at 36th Avenue & JFK. This is where the Access Center is, and you can request a golf cart inside or get a collar for your service animal. Accessible pickup and drop-off is at 36th and Fulton. If you are taking a rideshare, let your driver know to tell the parking staff that you need access to the ADA parking, which is also at the 36th and Fulton entrance.
There is limited ADA parking available, and it is first come, first served. You can access this parking by entering 36th Avenue and Fulton and talking to the gate agents. It is worth noting that some of the ADA parking is on roads with uneven terrain, with a walk to the ADA gate. Notify the parking staff so they can request a shuttle for you to the gate.
There is a lot of demand for shuttles, so Outside Lands is limiting “capacity to our disabled patrons plus one companion. Because of the ‘limited number’ of shuttles, Outside Lands organizers advise disabled festival goers to “please expect a wait, and plan your requests accordingly.”
Outside Lands provides elevated platforms at the following stages: Sutro, Twin Peaks and Lands End stages. There are “banquet style” folding chairs available at all of the platforms.
ADA restrooms are next to all of the accessible viewing platforms. Restrooms at Outside Lands also have accessible options at the ends.
Festival organizers recommend that you email access@sfoutsidelands.com ahead of time with any accessibility questions or requests.
Yes, it’s August. Yes, it’s Golden Gate Park. Yes, you still need to bring a jacket.
You can keep an eye on the National Weather Service’s forecast for San Francisco as the festival draws closer. Right now, the forecast in the City calls for “mostly sunny” weather this weekend, with highs near 69 on Friday, 70 on Saturday and 68 on Sunday. But Golden Gate Park is near the ocean, and it gets cold even when other parts of San Francisco are toasty. Forgetting layers for a day in the park is a classic mistake to make.
Also, another outfit suggestion from experienced KQED reporters: Comfortable shoes you don’t mind getting dirty.
Ticketholders are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle and refill it at one of the water stations around the festival.
You can reserve a locker on the festival grounds in advance, but be sure to do so as soon as possible, as these reservations can sell out quickly.
Some items you can’t bring to Outside Lands
The Outside Lands FAQ and venue information states that bringing your own alcohol into the festival is prohibited, but does not explicitly ban bringing your own food. Just remember: the Outside Lands bag policy prohibits common kinds of non-clear backpacks.
If you are looking for shortcuts to other stages (like a tunnel between Polo Field and Sutro Stage) or emergency exits, save the festival’s official map to your Camera Roll (JPG):
Here are some other insider tips from KQED reporters:
According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd and put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.
“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” Moussaïd told NPR in 2022. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”
KQED’s Gabe Meline, Nastia Voynovskaya and Carly Severn contributed to this story
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