Outside Lands brings thousands to Golden Gate Park for music, food and community

CBS News

2 days ago

Saturday marked the second day of the Outside Lands Music and Art Festival in Golden Gate Park. It began 17 years ago as a loving tribute to the City of San Francisco. And in return, the city has given the festival its unique vibe.
Outside Lands is the largest independently owned music festival in the United States and draws more than 200,000 people each year. But when the first music set began at 1 p.m., the throngs hadn't arrived yet, and it was a more intimate audience for emerging artist Emilia Moore on the Lands End stage.
Still, Kody Haynie from Sacramento said he knew how crowded it would get when evening fell and he was relying on his height to help out.
"Yeah, I'm a people person. I do like big crowds and I might have a slight advantage. I can see a lot," he said, laughing.
Early arrivers got to skip the normally long lines at the food booths, and this was the first year at the festival for Mezcla Eats, a local Colombian fusion pop-up vendor. Their specialty is Arepa, a corn masa pocket sandwich filled with savory barbecued beef. Co-owners Juan Melendez and Stephanie Ngyuen said they weren't sure how busy it would get when 70,000 people show up in the same place.
"Coming into it, I didn't know what to expect, right? You know, just kind of blind," said Juan. "Obviously, everyone tells you it's busy, it's busy. But you don't know what busy is like until you're in it. So, yesterday was kind of the tone-setter for the rest of the weekend. But now we're ready for work."
Along with the food, music and dancing there was also a space for love. Jazzy Grahm-Davis and Brandy Border were one of the couples who got married at the Outside Lands wedding venue.
"We wanted to have a simple, easy wedding, but wanted something that was extra fun and didn't want to just go to City Hall," said Jazzy. "We're definitely going to remember this for the rest of our lives and have enjoyed having everyone here with us."
And it wouldn't be San Francisco without a little social consciousness thrown in. "The Mission" area features a row of booths for non-profits, including Indvisible, the national group that organized the recent "No Kings" rallies that drew millions across the country.
"You know, we've been pleasantly surprised that folks here at Outside Lands are really passionate about making sure they're building a good future," said Indivisble's Media Director Antonio Arellano. "Because we recognize at this moment that people-power is what it's going to take to fight back against the potential challenges to our community."
That was something that festival-goer Kayla Stewart really appreciated.
"I think it makes me feel a real good sense of community. And, like, people care," she said. "That's been my favorite part. Obviously, there's the songs and dancing and the local food, but my favorite part is just knowing that there's so many people that DO care."
A sense of community is a common feeling at the festival. Concert veteran Jillian Devine said even in such huge crowds, at Outside Lands, there's a genuine atmosphere of togetherness.
"Oh, it's total cohesion. Like, everyone's best friends after this," she said, and then added, "Getting out's kind of a pain...it's you and 60,000 people, or whatever. But, I mean it's great and also knowing that you're coming back tomorrow and everyone's talking about what they're pumped up to see tomorrow. It's great! It's really one of the only times you can get a lot of us to come out to this side of the City because it's so cold in the summer. But it's a wonderful event."
Despite the cold, it was a good bet that they'd all be back again on Sunday, enjoying all Outside Lands had to offer with 60,000 of their new best friends.