Officials Preparing for Outside Lands Festival

The San Francisco Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is coming to Golden Gate Park this August and city officials and organizers want the Richmond District to be ready for the three-day event.

"Last year over 130,000 people attended during the three days and this year we are anticipating about the same amount of people," said Allen Scott, a senior vice president at the locally-based Another Planet Entertainment, the promoters of the festival. He said his staff is eager to work with the City and surrounding neighborhoods.

The three-day festival will converge in Golden Gate Park from roughly 23rd to 36th avenues. Concerts and art expositions will fill the Polo Fields and Speedway and Lindley meadows.

About a dozen people gathered for the monthly Richmond Community/Police Forum on May 19 at the Richmond Recreation Center for a basic overview of concert plans. Richmond District Supervisor Eric Mar was in attendance along with representatives from the mayor's office, Recreation and Park Department and the SF district attorney's office to answer questions and address resident concerns.

Capt. Richard Corriea, the commanding officer at the Richmond Station, said there would be more meetings to inform the public about the event and to allow residents and merchants to voice their concerns to event organizers. Richmond Station has responsibility for that part of the park.

Scott said Another Planet wants to listen to residents' needs and concerns and is looking forward to attending upcoming community meetings.

This will be the second Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival to be held in Golden Gate Park. While the festival is new to Golden Gate Park, Another Planet Entertainment has years of experience planning and promoting large events, Scott said.

"We have been doing this for a long time here in the Bay Area, since the 1970s," he said.

The Greek Theater in Berkeley, Fox Theater in Oakland and concerts on Treasure Island are among the recent list of large events Another Planet has produced.

In his critique of last year's concert, the SF Chronicle's Joel Selvin praised Another Planet, saying: "The event represents an extraordinary accomplishment."

According to Corriea, last year there were 167 noise complaints and other calls for service related to the event over the three days of the festival.

J.J. Chiu, a resident of the Outer Richmond, expressed concern with the illegal parking that goes on, not only at events like the music festival, year-round.

"DPT is often inconsistent on illegal parking, (parking on sidewalks and across driveways). These laws and rules should be simple and clear," Chiu said. "And they should be enforced."

A customer service hot line will be available all three days of the festival and tow trucks will be positioned to take away any illegally-parked vehicles that get a citation.

Before the event, brochures and flyers will be mailed out to all residents and businesses in the area to inform them in advance of the event so they can make any needed plans.

Attendees to the concert are urged to use public transit and the park's Marx Meadow will be reserved for bicycle parking.

Corriea said his officers will be working with event organizers to prepare for slightly larger crowds this year than last.

City Officials note the event is "fully cost recovered." Another Planet is paying for the festival and paying the Rec. and Park Department approximately $1 million for the site. The City will bill the organization for other services utilized, such as DPT parking control officers.

Scott said last year more than 15,000 festival goers were from the three zip code areas around Golden Gate Park.

For more information about the event, go to the Web site at www.sfoutsidelands.com. - Jonathan Farrell