Steve Langsam ( Martinez News-Gazette )
San Francisco, Calif. – In one week from now Golden Gate Park will be filled with the music of over 50 artists as Outside Lands comes back for another addition of their wonderful summer festival in San Francisco. This year the festival from Another Planet Entertainment will of course have music, comedy in The Barbary, featuring some festival favorite foods and drinks in Wine Lands, Beer Lands, Cheese Lands, Coco Lands but also have a new feature in GRASS LANDS.
Grass Lands is a segment that will be on the south side of the Polo Fields that is cannabis focused. The addition of Grass Lands makes Outside Lands the first major U.S. music festival to have a curated cannabis experience. Grass Lands will celebrate cannabis by educating festival attendees and exploring the different uses of cannabis and the associated products. No cannabis or cannabis products will be available for purchase or consumption onsite at the festival this year, but there will be a delivery service partner represented. While no on-site deliveries will be made within Golden Gate Park, people who elect to take advantage of their service can enable at-home deliveries. Grass Lands will actualize as a Town Square featuring The Greenhouse with “bud tenders” (cannabis product specialists) that will offer cannabis education, The Confectionery featuring tasty treats, a Lemonade Stand, The Flower Shop offering flower crowns, a cannabis-themed Farmers Market, an interactive Smell Wall featuring botanical terpenes, and a delivery service featuring a wealth of available cannabis products.
“Outside Lands is always exploring different ways to create a unique and memorable festival experience for attendees, while also celebrating our Northern California community. Much the way that Wine Lands celebrates Napa and Sonoma as the leaders in U.S. wine production, Grass Lands will shine a light on the area’s importance as pioneers in the cannabis world,” said Rick Farman, co-founder of Super fly, co-producers of Outside Lands. “With recreational marijuana now legal in California, there is so much to discover. We are excited to be the first major festival in the country to offer attendees the chance to learn about the latest in cannabis development.”
At the festival music will be on from 12pm noon to 10pm Friday through Sunday. The biggest acts this year come from a few different decades and genres as The Weekend, Janet Jackson and Florence and The Machine cap off each day on the main stage at the Polo Fields. Other notable acts this year to catch are Portugal the Man, Beck, Future, DJ Snake, Chvrches, Chromeo, Tycho and Nerd to name a few.
If you want to catch some comedy at the festival, The Barbary has you covered with over 15 acts including Michelle Wolf, Phoebe Robinson, Chelsea Peretti and Paul Scheer to name a few. If you want to catch some funny acts making food and playing jams, the Gastro Magic stage is for you. Billy Nye the Science Guy and Chef Tiffani Faison are a couple of the specials guests you will see there over the weekend that will pair up with some of the musical acts mentioned before.
Food offerings will once again come from local restaurants, food trucks and carts and at cheese lands. Some of the food to look out for include Nepalese Dumplings from Bini’s Kitchen, Crab Rolls from Fine & Rare, Glazed BBQ Pork Ribs from Cassava and Chicken and Waffles from Little Skillet.
The drinks will be flowing at Wine Lands, Beer Lands and throughout the festival with offerings from Sierra Nevada, Anchor Brewing, 21st Amendment, Laughing Monk, Atlas Wine Co., Dry Creek Vineyard, Hoxie Spritzer, Scribe and Unit Vineyards to name a few.
Passes are still available for single day and three day including general admission and VIP so get them now if you want to go. Go to www.outsidelands.com for more information.
If you can’t make this years’ Outside Lands, but still want to catch some live music after the festival, the Outside Lands night shows include performances from Amen Dunes, Big Gigantic, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mac Demarco and more. Tickets for those shows are selling out fast so make your move on those!
