05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Portola Music Festival is returning to S.F. despite history of noise complaints
Portola Music Festival is coming back to San Francisco's Pier 80 for a third year despite its history of noise complaints from residents across the Bay Area.
The permit required to host two nights of bass-thumping live performances at the waterfront space on Sept. 20-21 was unanimously approved by the Entertainment Commission during a public meeting in March. Goldenvoice, the festival's producer, also secured the necessary authorization from the Port of San Francisco.
Goldenvoice just needs to ensure that the festival is up to date with fire codes and emergency response access, among other precautions, to receive a final approval from SFFD, according to Lt. Mariano Elías.
Captain Jonathan Baxter said that the event plan is expected to be finalized during a meeting with Goldenvoice on July 23.
Meanwhile, Goldenvoice has teased the festival's return in an X post shared on Monday, May 5.
'Blue smoke has just been spotted coming from Coit Tower, signifying a new Portola lineup has been chosen,' Portola Festival's official account declared, along with an edited video of cobalt blue smoke coming out of the North Beach landmark.
Last year's event saw performances by 'Friday' singer Rebecca Black, controversial rapper and producer M.I.A. as well as headlining sets by French DJ Gesaffelstein and English electronic duo Disclosure that drew 42,000 attendees per day.
'There's a whole generation that missed what dancing and going out was about,' festivalgoer Deron Delgado told the Chronicle last year, reflecting on the pandemic era. 'There's more appetite again for it.'
But while Portola Festival is becoming a beloved tradition for EDM lovers, the event has evoked equal frustration among the hundreds of Bay Area residents nearby who have filed noise complaints since it began in 2022.
Even with increased efforts to reduce noise from the performances last year — such as reorienting its two outdoor stages, hiring someone to monitor noise levels and enlisting additional call center staff — Portola Festival still drew 224 complaints over the festival weekend.
That doesn't seem to be discouraging city officials who already approved a new Pride music festival to take place at Pier 80 next month.
Dubbed SoSF and scheduled for June 28, a day before San Francisco's official Pride Parade, the event boasts performances by Oakland R&B star Kehlani, 'Nasty' singer Tinashe and pop artist Kim Petras, who in 2023 became the first openly transgender artist to receive a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance (for 'Unholy') and the second transgender woman to win a Grammy following electronic music composer Wendy Carlos.
It is unclear if SoSF will be both indoors and outdoors, like Portola Festival. But with the event scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., musical performances are likely to extend well into the evening, when noise complaints tend to surge.
