Outside Lands 2021: How to get to the festival, what to bring, who’s playing and more (2024)

Outside Lands has been a summer destination for music fans from around the world for more than a decade. Set in the west end of San Francisco’s picturesque Golden Gate Park, the fog-shrouded music festival is known for showcasingicons and upstarts alike.

Among the stars who have performed on the festival’s main stage amidthe century-old canopy of trees on the Polo Field since the festival started in 2008 are Paul McCartney, Elton John, Neil Young, Janet Jackson and Radiohead. But in recent years, Outside Lands has also been a launchpad for younger acts who often graduate from afternoon sets on side stages to headline status. If you’re not yet familiar with Glass Animals, Khruangbin, Melanie Martinez, Boy Pablo and Cannons, Outside Lands will probably make a fan out of you before the weekend is over.

The three-day outdoor event was postponed a few times in 2020 because of the uncertainties around the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers say it is on track to return re-energized this fall with a safety-first mission. Despite the success of last year’s virtual Inside Lands festival, promoters were eager to bring the full in-person experience back to the park.

Beyond the music, Outside Lands is known for offering a variety of attractions, from art installations, pop-up dance venues, a section devoted to cannabis connoisseurs, an array of local food vendors, and countless sponsored cabanas offering haircuts, organic produce, phone charging stations and other distractions to keep the festival’s 74,000 daily attendees on the move.

When and where is the festival?

After the 13th year of the festival was postponed in 2020 because of concerns about COVID-19, the festival is now set to return to Golden Gate Park from Friday to Sunday, Oct. 29-31, with six stages spread across the Polo Field, Hellman Hollow, Speedway Meadow and Marx Meadow. Festival gates open at 11 a.m. each day, and music starts at noon with a strict curfew of 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9:40 p.m. Sunday.

Who’s playing Outside Lands 2021?

Outside Lands managed to keep most of the lineup that was scheduled to perform in 2020, including headliners the Strokes, Lizzo and Tame Impala. But organizers added several new acts such as Kaytranada, Lord Huron, Brijean and Flo Milli to the bill earlier this year. Those were in addition to nearly four dozen acts previously announced, including Tyler, the Creator; Vampire Weekend; Kehlani; Rexx Life Raj; Zhu; Young Thug; Sofi Tukker; Nelly; Brittany Howard; Angel Olsen; Sharon Van Etten; Marc Rebillet; and more.

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How do I get to Outside Lands?

Leave your car at home. Parking in and around the festival is extremely limited — if not impossible — and chances are good the weekend will end with you retrieving your vehicle from the impound lot.

If you can’t walk, grab an electronic scooter, ride a bike, or take public transportation. The N-Judah Muni Metro and the lines 1-California, 5-Fulton, 7-Haight/Noriega, 28-19th Avenue, 29-Sunset, 31-Balboa and 38-Geary will get you close enough to the festival site in Golden Gate Park. In fact, Muni is expanding service for the N Judah and 5R Fulton Rapid lines, with 5X Fulton Rapid lines heading from Golden Gate Park to Civic Center BART Station. Note that the Fulton lines won’t be serving their entire routes, and there may be some service delays because of the pandemic. (Click here for more details about Muni service during the weekend.)

While BART doesn’t offer direct service to Golden Gate Park, festivalgoers can take BART and transfer to Muni. It plans torun regular service until around midnight during the first two days of the festival, but plans to increase service on Sunday in anticipation of a surge in riders due to Halloween. (Click here for details on hours of service and more.)

Outside Lands offers free on-site bicycle parking. There’s also a shuttle service from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for those arriving via BART. The cost starts at $20 and goes up to $56, plus fees, depending on the tier of service. The shuttle fee does not include admission to the festival,and your festival pass does not count as a shuttle ticket.

What are the COVID-19 safety protocols?

Outside Lands isrequiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours for all attendees. Masks are required for all indoor spaces and encouraged throughout the festival grounds, regardless of vaccination status.

Access to indoor spaces such as the new SOMA Tent will be limited to fully vaccinated individuals, per San Francisco health department guidelines. To be considered fully vaccinated, attendees must have received their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the entry date to the festival. That means a single dose of Johnson & Johnson or a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna received no later than Oct. 15.

Outside Lands will accept negative PCR and antigen viral test results with lab confirmation. They must include the date, time and name matching the ID of the ticket holder.

The festival will not accept negative results from at-hometests, rapid tests brought to the festival and performed on-site, or antibody or serology tests.

The COVID-19 policies also apply to attendees younger than 18. Children must provide a negative coronavirus test result, as detailed above, or proof of vaccination if eligible.

What’s the vibe?

Outside Lands is different from other large-scale festivals such as Southern California’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Lollapalooza in Chicago, not only for its lineups but for its geography. Set in a gorgeous expanse of green near San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, the festival is almost always blanketed with fog before the sun goes down. Then the temperature dips low enough to leave the T-shirt-wearing masses queuing up for ponchos and blankets as the headliner takes the stage.

With the new fall dates, anticipate it to get colder and darker earlier. The festival also falls on Halloween weekend this year, so expect to see people dressed up in more than the usual array of furry costumes.

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What are the food and drink options?

Outside Lands’ reputation for showcasing top-tier culinary talent is well deserved, and this year’s food lineup might be the most exciting one yet. There will be 85 restaurants, more than 40 wineries and 30 breweries slinging sustenance while the performers take the stage.

While Outside Landshas its regulars, there are 38 new vendors this year, including Richmond’s El Garage, which plans to cook up its Instagram-famous quesabirria and mole cauliflower tacos; Oakland Cambodian eatery Nyum Bai, serving Khmer fried chicken; and San Francisco’s Mensho Tokyo, bringing its wagyu truffle maze ramen and vegan miso ramen.

Nearly all Outside Lands vendors offer gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian options.

The festival’s Wine Lands has also expanded its offerings, this year constructing two additional courtyards — one focused on canned wines and the other on sparkling wines. The big tent is scheduled to pour from 19 new wineries, including McBride Sisters, RD Winery, Tansy and Brendel, which reflect a focus on wineries helmed by women and people of color.

Beer Lands is also being decidedly more inclusive,showcasingOakland’s Hella Coastal and Crown & Hops of Inglewood (Los Angeles County), both Black-owned breweries.

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What happened to the comedy tent?

The festival’s signature comedy and variety stage known as the Barbary is noticeably missing from the Outside Lands lineup, after bringing laughs to the festival since its third year with acts like the Bay Area’s own Chelsea Peretti and Fred Armisen.

It will be replaced in Marx Meadow by the SOMA Tent, a new experience that promoters say is “inspired by underground clubs and late nights” of San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood such as 1015 Folsom and the EndUp.

The SOMA Tent is expected to feature more than nine hours of programming each day of the festival, with a lineup of house music actssuch as Boys Noize, Hot Since 82, Green Velvet, Maya Jane Coles and LP Giobbi.

The House by Heineken, Outside Lands’ signature dance music tent, will also be back on the Polo Field. Among the artists scheduled to appear at that pop-up venue are Kelis, Sango and the Egyptian Lover, plus longtime Bay Area DJ Aaron Axelsen.

Festival producers boast “an unforgettable backyard-themed experience with an outdoor format designed to celebrate the ways people have connected with each other over the past 18 months” for the House, which means a COVID-friendly open-air dance floor.

Can I smoke weed at Outside Lands?

Grass Lands, the cannabis-themed activation that was introduced in 2018, returns for its third year at the festival with vendors selling everything from disposable vaporizers to infused mints. There is also a designated area where you can consume and smoke marijuana despite the fact that it is generally illegal to use cannabis in public in California.

For the first time, the area located just south of the Polo Field will also include a stage featuring sets by the likes of Doug Benson, Nancy Whang and the Soul Rebels.

Guests must be age 21 and older to enter Grass Lands.

What happens after the festival?

Organizers plan to stage 16 shows across eight Bay Area venues as part of its Outside Lands Night Shows lineup. The concerts, which start Wednesday, Oct. 27, will feature artists from the festival bill playing in more intimate settings after dark.

Acts include Rufus Du Sol, Kaytranada, Dr. Dog, Drama, Noga Erez, mxmtoon and Marc E. Bassy.

Fans who bought tickets as part of the festival presale in March 2020 have first dibs on passes to the night shows. For a complete schedule and ticket information, visit sfoutsidelands.com/night-shows.

Before you go

Outside Lands can feel a little overwhelming, so technology can help.

Download the official Outside Lands mobile app for the latest festival updates, a detailed map of the grounds and a friend-finder function.

Need to know whether you can bring your cat to the festival? The latest clear bag policy? Where to find an ATM? How late the box office is open? Take your questions over to the Outside Lands website, which features a comprehensive information page, as well as other vital details.

In addition to this year’s COVID protocols, festival promoters said attendees can expect the same robust security measures they saw at Outside Lands in 2019, including metal detectors at the gates, double-perimeter fencing and armed police officers patrolling the grounds.

Where can I see the most up-to-date Outside Lands schedule?

There will be print schedules available at the information booth on the Polo Field on the days of the festival. But your best bet is to check the full lineup and schedule on the Outside Lands mobile app and the festival website, which will be updated in real-time throughout all three days.

Friday, Oct. 29

The Strokes, Tyler the Creator, Glass Animals, Kaytranada, Khruangbin, EarthGang, Sharon Van Etten, SG Lewis, Flo Milli, JpegMafia, Drama, 070 Shake, Trevor Daniel, Moses Sumney, the HU, Yung Bae, the Soul Rebels, Remi Wolf, Buscabulla, Q, Sofía Valdés, Bartees Strange, Amy Allen, Madeline Kenney, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Shilan

Saturday, Oct. 30

Lizzo, Vampire Weekend, ZHU, Young Thug, Lord Huron, Melanie Martinez, 24kGoldn, Angel Olsen, Marc Rebillet, Arizona, Rico Nasty, Dr. Dog, Shiba San, Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness, The Midnight, Dijon, Bakar, Hinds, Rexx Life Raj, Jessia, Brijean, Odie, Noga Erez, Post Animal, Nap Eyes, Boy Scouts

Sunday, Oct. 31

Tame Impala, J Balvin, Rüfüs du Sol, Kehlani, Nelly, Brittany Howard, Burna Boy, TroyBoi, Sofi Tukker, Boy Pablo, mxmtoon, Caroline Polachek, Nicola Cruz, Yves Tumor and Its Band,
Scarypoolparty, J.Phlip, Marc E. Bassy, Goth Babe, Cam, Neil Frances, Cannons, Resistance Revival Chorus, Claud, Evann McIntosh, Neal Francis

Chronicle staff writer Janelle Bitker contributed to this report.

Outside Lands 2021:11 a.m.-10 p.m. Oct. 29-30; 11 a.m.-9:40 p.m. Oct. 31. $165-$855. Golden Gate Park, S.F.www.sfoutsidelands.com