After months of anticipation, the Outside Lands Music Festival is here, taking over Golden Gate Park with a slate of music that attracts 75,000 attendees per day. The park transforms into a three-day playground for music fans, with eight stages of acts ranging from Bay Area upstarts to international stars.

Friday afternoon was a decidedly cloudy affair, with not a sliver of sunshine poking through a heavy cloud cover. Thankfully, it looked like most attendees got the memo to wear layers, although a few brave souls dared to flex some decidedly less-warm festival fashion. 

Festivalgoers take a selfie with the Ranger Dave statue during the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Aug. 7, 2026.

Sierra Ferrell performs at the Sutro stage at Outside Lands, in San Francisco on August 7, 2026.

Giant mushrooms provide a place to sit during the Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park, on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026.

Charli XCX performs the Day One headlining set at the Outside Lands Music Festival on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. 

Early standout performances included Nezza, a homegrown San Jose R&B star in the making who did double duty performing on the Twin Peaks stage and then on the Duboce Triangle stage, one of the most underrated stages at the event, which she referred to as an “enchanted forest.” After a couple of songs, she noticed her parents in the crowd, who were dancing wildly in support. Pop upstart Grace Ives blessed a dedicated early crowd at the Lands End........

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