The Golden Gate Park was transformed into a hub of music, arts and celebration for the 17th annual Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco. From Aug. 8 through 10, the event took over the parks’ grounds, hosting art exhibits, performance stages and culinary offerings.
Several Grammy award-winning performers, including Tyler, the Creator, Doechii, Doja Cat and Anderson .Paak brought in roughly 75,000 attendees per day. Outside Lands remains one of the largest independent music festivals in the United States, primarily run by Another Planet Entertainment, a locally owned and operated concert production company primarily in Northern California.
“Since its inception in 2008, Outside Lands has been a disruptor of the live music landscape, rapidly evolving in less than a decade into one of the most influential and successful music and cultural festivals in the world,” APE’s website said.
Grass Lands made its annual return this year, continuing its role as the first curated cannabis experience at a major music festival in the United States. Featuring a variety of vendors, this location features music stages, art installations, smoking areas and educational booths.
To celebrate Northern Californian roots, “A Taste of the Bay Area” hosted a wide variety of local restaurants and pop-ups at the festival. From Bánh mì sandwiches to artisan chocolates, over 100 vendors lined the park.
With eight stages offering diverse experiences and hosting various artists, one performer statistically stood out from the rest.
Despite not being an official headliner, Doechii was the most-saved artist on the official Outside Lands app, as voted by festival attendees. Her performance featured an intricate setlist, performing the majority of her award-winning album “Alligator Bites Never Heal” with DJ Miss Milan and dancers.
Doechii’s act was followed by Doja Cat, marking Outside Lands as her first performance in 2025. Doja Cat and her live band performed their catalog of music, additionally announcing her fifth studio album titled “Vie.”
Tyler, The Creator headlined the second day, showcasing his musical discography. His latest album “Don’t Tap The Glass” had been spontaneously released a few weeks before the festival, within less than a year since his last studio album “Chromokopia.” Tyler emphasized to the crowd that there was no standing still allowed and encouraged the crowd to dance. Another feature of the festival is Outside Lands Works, which hosts a variety of Bay Area non-profit music and arts education organizations. One of the participating institutions was The People’s Parlor, presented by the Working Families Party, which emphasizes “progressive politics, news and action for working people in California.”
“We believe in organizing a community and that it is not just for people that are plugged into our political system, but even everyday people who want to make even the smallest difference in their community,” said San Francisco Member Representative Joshua Rudy Ochao.
The WFP stand was located at the Dolores’ stage at the festival, which was established to honor and celebrate queer and transgender communities in San Francisco.
“How do we bring [in] ordinary folks and feel like they have a place in politics,” Rudy Ochao said, reflecting on WFP’s mission. “It’s about creating joy and community. It’s for young people, for queer people, for old people, for folks who are really trying to make a difference.”
Closing off the weekend were Hozier, Jamie XX and Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals. A Bay Area local, E-40, made a surprise appearance alongside .Paak opened with “Tell Me When to Go,” with loud cheers erupting from the audience.
Across the festival grounds, a moment of Hozier’s performance touched on the history of the Civil Rights movement in San Francisco during the 1960s. He discussed musical influences who used their songs as a medium for protest. His speech was then followed by his performance of “Nina Cried Power,” a song he wrote inspired by his musical influences, including Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and Nina Simone.
“I just wanted to write something that was not cynical, that was hopeful and came from a place of solidarity,” Hozier said in an interview with the Grammy Awards. “Even though it acknowledged the difficulty of, ‘How do you start addressing these things? Where do you start and what’s worthwhile about addressing them?’ I just wanted to point to the legacy of other artists that we refer to as heroes and that we call heroes for a reason.”
As the crowd shuffled out of the park on the final day of the festival, the last performance was a yearly tradition for the attendees. While leaving Outside Lands, attendees passing through the South Tunnel exit collectively sang Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend.”
The 2026 Outside Lands Festival will be held Aug. 7 through 9 at Golden Gate Park.
