Recreation & Fun

Friday-Saturday-Sunday -- August 28-30

This weekend was the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park. An estimated 100,000 people flocked to the park to attend the second annual concert. Music fans from throughout the Bay Area and the country attended the festival to see bands like Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Modest Mouse and the Black Eyed Peas.

It was an incredible weekend. The crowd was well behaved and Golden Gate Park sparkled. Did you see the Polo Fields at night, with the horse-shoe of trees up-lit in red, orange and yellow? Another Planet Entertainment were great partners. While we had a few noise complaints (although fewer each succeeding night), Another Planet and City staff worked extremely hard to be sensitive to the community, the environment and the park. The event not only generated approximately $1,000,000 for the Recreation and Parks Department, but filled City restaurants and hotels over the weekend.

Behind the scenes and in the months leading up to the concert, Recreation and Park Department staff worked diligently with other city agencies to make sure this was a successful and safe event for both concertgoers and the rest of the public.

As for the concert itself: hot, hot, hot. While MIA and Tenacious D were not really my speed, I loved Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews and, I gotta admit, Tom Jones. And, my kids? It was all about the Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz. Thank you Outside Lands, I am hipper than I was before you showed up (if only a little) and I already can't wait till next year.