Outside Lands, a 'melting pot' of music, is underway

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Outside Lands, the three-day music festival at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, started Friday afternoon. 

It features dozens of artists. This year, the big names include Janet Jackson and Salt-N-Pepa. The headliner for the opening night was the artist known as The Weekend. Live musical performances take place on four main stages. 

The group N.E.R.D, of which Pharrell Williams is a member, played Friday evening. It is among dozens of acts offering an eclectic mix of hip hop, soul, alternative rock and other genres that draw more than 200,000 people to the event over a span of three days.

"I love that it's multi-cultural. It's a little bit of everything here for everyone," said Charice Hornsby from Vallejo. 

This is Outside Lands' 11th year. For the first time, there are two female headliners: Florence and the Machine on Saturday and Janet Jackson on Sunday. 

"There's only one place for it. That's Golden Gate Park in San Francisco," said Nick Downes of San Francisco. 

Organizers say half the audience are people from the Bay Area and the other half beyond. 

"It's a melting pot, if you will, of music and people," said Ronan Murphy of San Francisco. 

A new attraction this year is Grasslands. It's a village dedicated to educating the public about all things cannabis. People can buy, but not eat or smoke it, at Golden Gate Park.

All purchases have to be shipped off-site.

And different appetites can be satisfied. Outside Lands is billed as the world's first gourmet music festival. It offers 200 menu items from Bay Area food vendors including Nombe Catering. Its specialty is the ramen burger, noodles shaped into patties. 

"I would describe it as a nice mélange of Japanese California cuisine delivered with a lot of love,” said Gil Payne, the owner of Nombe, who says he's served food at Outside Lands for eight years. 

A one-day pass costs $150, while the three-day pass went for $345 each. 

"I got a three-day pass. I'm excited for The Weekend, exited for Future...all of them, " said Katie Foster of Petaluma. 

One couple says they wanted to see artists who were performing on different nights, so they plan to attend all three days. 

"There's never a dull moment. It's my first festival as well," said Erik Howard of Richmond. 

Each day, the concerts start at noon and end at 10pm. Organizers say Saturday is already sold out. As of Friday night, they say there were limited tickets available for Sunday. Organizers recommend checking the Outside Lands website for tickets.