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Outside Lands closures begin at Golden Gate Park

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Published  July 31, 2023 11:21pm PDT
San Francisco
KTVU FOX 2

Outside Lands music festival preparations underway

Outside Lands is over a week away but closures in the area have already started in preparation of the festival.

SAN FRANCISCO - There was a lot of action at the Golden Gate Park polo fields Monday. Trucks wheeled in large pieces of equipment. Work crews were seen putting up tents and building parts of stages. 

The 3-day Outside Lands music festival begins August 11th. That’s nearly 2 weeks away but some road and field closures already started.

"The concerts aren’t the problem. It’s really, why do they need all the other stuff?" said neighbor Tony Belway, who has lived in San Francisco since 1955. 

Belway said the weeks-long closures to set up, then put on the event, and finally break everything down puts a burden on traffic and restricts large areas of the park.

"The one thing that bothers me is it’s not just the polo fields for 4 weeks, but it’s everything west from 25th avenue to the beach," said Belway.

Closures and detours will continue throughout the coming days. The closures include Lindley Meadow, Hellman Hollow, and JFK Drive.  

Neighbor Lauren Stewart said, "It doesn’t bother me. I’m happy it’s here. It’s a good way to see music. I know it’s kind of crazy around here but over the years the city has gotten better about handling it."

This year’s lineup includes headliners Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, and Odesza. 

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Marx Meadow was also closed Monday for prep work, while flaggers were in the road doing traffic control. The disc golf course is adjacent to the field. People playing there said they will find somewhere else to go during the event.

"I think that Outside Lands brings a lot of business and people to the city which right now we could probably use," said San Francisco resident Dugan Dotson.

On the Outside Lands website there is a letter to Golden Gate Park neighbors. Part of it reads, "We recognize our event’s impact on the neighborhood, and we work hard to mitigate that impact."

The festival set up a community hotline to respond to neighbor concerns. There will be dedicated tow trucks on site. And the SFMTA will be ready to respond to any cars blocking driveways.