A crowd stretches back to the windmill during the first day of the Outside Lands music festival at Golden Gate Park.
Outside Lands returns to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park with three days of music, food, art and increasingly elaborate ways to spend money between performances.
Charli xcx, the Strokes and Rüfüs Du Sol lead the 2026 music lineup, which also features the xx, Baby Keem, Turnstile, Death Cab for Cutie, Clipse, Lucy Dacus, Ethel Cain, PinkPantheress and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
The three-day outdoor festival is also expanding its food program with secret snack menus, dishes available in exceptionally small quantities and a roster of more than 100 Bay Area restaurants.
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General admission, GA+ and VIP passes are sold out, though waitlists and verified resale options remain available. A small number of premium packages may still be available.
Here is what to know before heading into the park.
When and where is Outside Lands?
A layer of haze rises over Hellman Hollow on Saturday during the Outside Lands festival.
Outside Lands runs Friday-Sunday, Aug. 7-9, in the western half of Golden Gate Park.
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Festival gates open at 11 a.m. each day. Music is scheduled to begin at noon and end at 10 p.m.
The main grounds traditionally stretch through the Polo Field, Hellman Hollow, Lindley Meadow, Marx Meadow and surrounding areas. Visitors should expect substantial walking on uneven terrain, hills, grass and dirt.
Outside Lands 2026 lineup: Who is performing?
Julian Casablancas of the Strokes performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Texas in 2025. The band is scheduled to perform at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, Aug. 8.
The three headliners are Charli xcx, Rüfüs Du Sol and the Strokes.
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Outside Lands: Noon-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Aug. 7-9. General admission, GA+ and VIP passes are sold out; waitlist and verified resale options may be available. Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.sfoutsidelands.com
Other prominent performers include the xx, Baby Keem, Turnstile, Djo, Labrinth, Empire of the Sun, GloRilla, Clipse, Death Cab for Cutie, Lucy Dacus, Ethel Cain, Wet Leg, Dijon, Tinashe, Geese and PinkPantheress.
The festival has also added Grace Ives, Kerala Dust, DJ and producer Etari as well as the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus since the original lineup was announced in March.
Are Outside Lands 2026 tickets still available?
Three-day and single-day general admission, GA+ and VIP passes are listed as sold out, with waitlists available through the festival’s authorized ticketing partner.
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General admission passes originally ranged from $509 to $569 for three days, before fees, with the waitlist price listed at $599. Single-day general admission passes were sold in tiers starting at $249.
Three-day GA+ passes ranged from $779 to $849, while VIP passes ranged from $1,249 to $1,399 before waitlist pricing took effect.
The three-day Golden Gate Club package is also sold out, but single-day passes were still listed starting at $2,369, including fees, as of Tuesday, July 21. It includes dedicated viewing areas, golf cart transportation, food and drinks, premium restrooms and concierge service.
Is it safe to buy a resale ticket?
Outside Lands guarantees only tickets purchased through Front Gate Tickets, its official vendor.
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Ticketmaster operates the festival’s verified resale marketplace. Organizers say they cannot guarantee wristbands purchased from an individual seller, scalper or unauthorized third-party marketplace.
Buyers should be cautious of screenshots, photocopied confirmations and loose wristbands. The physical wristband is the admission credential, and tampered wristbands can be rejected.
Should I put on my wristband before the festival?
A festival attendee swipes their wristband at the entry gate during the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2023.
Yes, but not too early — and not too tightly.
The wristband cannot be loosened after it is secured. Organizers recommend leaving enough room for comfort and treating it like cash.
Do not cut, twist or otherwise alter it. A three-day pass comes as one wristband that must remain on for the entire weekend. It cannot be split into separate days or transferred between people.
Replacement wristbands are subject to order verification and a $25 fee. Only wristbands bought through Front Gate Tickets or the official Ticketmaster exchange are eligible, and organizers say replacements are limited to one per order.
Does Outside Lands allow same-day reentry?
Each wristband may be used to enter once per day. Anyone who must leave because of an emergency or serious issue should speak to a supervisor at an entrance before exiting and arrange to be scanned out. Simply walking out does not guarantee re-entry.
What bags are allowed?
- Backpacks or bags made of clear plastic, clear vinyl or clear PVC.
- Small purses, fanny packs or bags measuring no more than 6 by 8 by 3 inches. These do not have to be clear.
- Empty hydration packs with a bladder capacity below 2.5 liters and no more than one additional pocket.
- Standard backpacks fitted with hydration bladders are not permitted.
- Lockers may be rented in the general admission, GA+ and VIP areas.
What are other Outside Lands prohibited items?
A festivalgoer carries a clear bag during the first day of Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 2022.
Items barred from the festival include weapons and pocket knives, outside alcohol, glass containers, cans, coolers, picnic baskets, umbrellas, drones, professional cameras with long detachable lenses, GoPros, selfie sticks, chairs with legs, tents, hammocks, wagons, strollers, musical instruments, fireworks, laser pointers, large inflatables and non-clear drawstring backpacks.
Outside liquids are also prohibited, except for personal-sized hand sanitizer. Empty reusable water bottles and approved empty hydration packs may be filled inside.
Guests with a medical or accessibility-related dietary need should contact the festival before arriving to clarify what documentation or accommodations may be required.
Bicycles, skateboards and scooters cannot be taken into the festival grounds, although bike parking will be available outside.
Pets are prohibited except for service animals.
Are children allowed?
Yes. Outside Lands is an all-ages festival.
Children younger than 2 years old do not need a wristband. Strollers, however, are not allowed because of the park’s rough terrain.
Parents should consider the size of the crowds, sound levels, changing weather and long distances between stages before bringing young children. Hearing protection is advisable.
What to wear to Outside Lands in San Francisco
Dress for several San Francisco seasons in one day.
Golden Gate Park can be chilly, windy and foggy even when neighborhoods on the eastern side of the city are warm. Afternoon sun can quickly give way to cold evening weather.
Layers, comfortable closed-toe shoes and a light water-resistant jacket are safer choices than a single heavy coat. Umbrellas are prohibited, so a packable rain shell is more practical if rain is possible.
Because much of the event takes place on grass and dirt, shoes may become dusty or muddy.
What’s the Outside Lands 2026 food lineup?
A group of friends toast with their beverages at Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco in 2018.
Outside Lands’ Taste of the Bay Area program features more than 100 restaurants, food trucks and culinary partners, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices expected throughout the grounds.
The 2026 lineup includes longtime festival vendors and San Francisco institutions such as Original Joe’s, Perry’s and Balboa Cafe, along with Bini’s Kitchen, Reem’s, Señor Sisig, Tacolicious and Woodhouse Fish Co.
Collaborations include Wise Sons with Outta Sight Pizza, Reem’s with Lion Dance Cafe, and Jaji with Tallboy.
More than 20 Bay Area restaurants will offer smaller, lower-priced versions of selected dishes for $16 or less.
The items will be part of a “secret” menu and will not appear on the regular menu boards at vendor stalls. Participating booths will instead be identified with a Snack Series symbol, and organizers plan to release the menus online before the festival.
Announced dishes include half of a lamb quesabirria flatbread wrap from Reem’s, half of a Wise Sons and Outta Sight Pizza bagel topped with pizza ingredients, four chicken or vegan momo dumplings from Bini’s Kitchen, a single pork or tofu bao from Piglet & Co., and a miniature chicken karaage rice bowl from Nobu.
Other participating restaurants include Abacá, Bodega SF, El Garage, Gumbo Social, Om Sabor, Shawarmaji, Tiya, Total Meltdown, Um.Ma and Wooly Pig.
Seven restaurants have created eight dishes available only at Outside Lands.
Organizers say each item will be limited to 10 orders per day, meaning they could sell out almost immediately.
Is the festival cashless?
Outside Lands accepts credit cards, debit cards and digital payments at its points of sale. Grass Lands, the festival’s cannabis area for attendees 21 and older, will continue to accept cash and will have ATMs.
What is the best way to get to Outside Lands?
Four-year-old Spencer Byrne, attending his first concert, listens to Andrew McMahon at Outside Lands.
Do not drive unless absolutely necessary.
There is no public festival parking, and street parking in the Richmond and Sunset districts is scarce, restricted and heavily enforced. Organizers warn that vehicles may be ticketed or towed.
Muni, festival shuttles, bicycles, walking and ride-hail drop-offs several blocks from the entrances are generally the most practical options.
BART does not run directly to Golden Gate Park, but riders can transfer to Muni or use the paid shuttle from the Civic Center area.
How do the official shuttles work?
Paid round-trip shuttles will leave from Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, near Civic Center BART and Muni stations.
Service begins at 11 a.m. each day and continues throughout the day, with reduced availability 5-8 p.m. The final outbound shuttle is scheduled to leave at 8 p.m., and return buses will run until one hour after the music ends. Shuttles drop passengers near the festival’s south entrance.
Three-day shuttle passes are listed at $84 including fees, while single-day passes start at $37.75.
Can I ride a bike?
Yes, but bicycles cannot be brought through the festival gates.
Free self-parking bicycle areas will be located near the eastern and southern portions of the festival grounds. A temporary Bay Wheels station is planned on John F. Kennedy Drive east of Transverse Drive, with attendants helping to keep docks and bikes available.
A strong lock is advisable for anyone using the bicycle parking area.
Where should ride-hail drivers drop off passengers?
Organizers discourage pickups and drop-offs immediately beside the park because streets will be congested or closed.
They recommend arranging drop-offs several blocks away, near Geary Boulevard or Balboa Street to the north or Irving Street to the south.
After the final performances, walking farther from the park before requesting a car may make it easier to connect with a driver and avoid the densest pedestrian traffic.
Are Outside Lands Night Shows included with festival tickets?
Outside Lands night shows require separate tickets, even for people holding three-day festival wristbands. The concerts run at venues around San Francisco during festival week.
The 2026 night-show lineup includes performers such as Clipse, Modest Mouse, Omnom, Goldie Boutilier, Griz and Ben Böhmer.
What’s new at Outside Lands in 2026?
Outside Lands is introducing an Artists in Residence program, aka AIR, featuring installations commissioned from Bay Area artists.
The first projects include textile figures and sculptural seating by Oakland artists Maria A. Guzmán Capron and Seth Capron, along with San Francisco artist Oliver Hawk Holden’s “Bison and Ranger Ruth.” The program was curated by Christine Koppes of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco.
Returning attractions include Dolores’ open-air queer dance space, the SOMA electronic stage, the Grass Lands cannabis marketplace, Cocktail Magic, Wine Lands, Beer Lands and the festival’s City Hall wedding venue.
How to watch the Outside Lands 2026 livestream
Fans who cannot get tickets to Outside Lands can watch select performances from home through the festival’s official Amazon Music livestream.
The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. each day of the festival, Aug. 7-9. Viewers can watch on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, through Prime Video or on the Amazon Live channel available on Fire TV and Samsung TV Plus.
A Prime subscription should not be necessary for viewers using Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, which is publicly accessible. Availability and sign-in requirements may differ on Prime Video, Fire TV and Samsung TV Plus.
The 2026 livestream will offer two channels showing simultaneous performances, allowing viewers to switch between artists playing across the festival’s eight stages.
Amazon Music and Outside Lands are expected to announce the full streaming schedule and participating performers before the festival. Not every set on the in-person lineup is necessarily included in the broadcast, and some performances may be shown on a delay.
Outside Lands 2026 checklist before you go
- Bring an approved bag, an empty reusable water bottle, layers and comfortable shoes.
- Register and protect your wristband. Do not tighten it prematurely, buy from an unverified seller or expect to leave and reenter freely.
- Do not drive to the park without a realistic parking plan.
- Download the official app and map when they become available, and check the performance schedule again on the morning of each festival day in case of changes.
