San Francisco’s beloved Outside Lands Music Festival is set to return to Golden Gate Park from August 8 to 10, 2025, marking its 17th year of celebrating music, art, and local culture. This year’s lineup boasts an eclectic mix of artists, with something for everyone no matter the music taste. The list of artists is headlined by Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat, and Hozier. Other notable performers include Anderson. Paak & The Free Nationals, Vampire Weekend, Gracie Abrams, Doechii, Glass Animals, Jamie xx, and Gesaffelstein.

First launched in 2008, and thus a staple of San Francisco’s culture for the past 16 years, Outside Lands is the largest independently owned musical festival in the country. Meant to be a love letter to San Francisco, the festival was born as a way to emphasize the connection to the city through its partnerships with 100% locally sourced food and retail vendors (a draw for festival-goers), the installation of art from local artists, and a unique weed, wine, and beer area for festival-goers to browse and shop at creating an exclusive San Francisco experience. 

Produced by local promoter Another Planet Entertainment (APE) in collaboration with Superfly, the team behind Tennessee’s Bonnaroo, Outside Lands was built with the city’s personality at its core. Vice President of APE, Allen Scott, mentioned the conscious decision to make Outside Lands unique to San Francisco.  Of the festival, he said: “Out of the gate, what we wanted this festival to be, to differentiate it from the other festivals that are out there — number one: we had Golden Gate Park, which I think is the country’s greatest urban park. It’s fantastic. You start with that, and that’s a really nice foundation. Then we wanted to make the festival celebrate San Francisco and the Bay Area.”

While Outside Lands functions as a large-scale music festival, its niche is more specialized than its competition and other significant events like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, etc… The festival exclusively features local vendors and experiences derived from Bay Area culture, having also pioneered the sale of cannabis at other events across the nation with its signature “GrassLands” section. Festival-goers are just as likely to come for the big name artists as they are to experience and embrace the local culture. 

Another notable competitor in the local scene is Portola, a recently launched San Francisco festival in 2022. While both festivals embrace the city’s identity, Portola is 21+ and specializes in electronic music, whereas Outside Lands is open to all ages and offers a more diverse musical lineup, including what locals often call the annual “Dad” headliner. Unlike Outside Lands (and other large-scale festivals), Portola takes place in the fall. The local focus of Outside Lands combined with its large-scale musical appeal, lends itself to many of the festival’s biggest strengths. Its offerings (food, wine, cannabis), unique experiences (such as GrassLands), the venue/location, and the local cultural integration are all strong points. Those offerings hinge on Outside Lands’ use of local products and cultural staples. However, some of the festival’s other qualities, like the artist lineup, larger brand recognition/legacy,and operational efficiency, are lacking compared to some of its competitors.