Outside Lands: Marijuana steals the show at 12th annual festival
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Paul Simon, Childish Gambino and Twenty One Pilots are the headliners atop the diversely appealing bill.
Yet, Mary Jane is stealing the show at the 12th annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, which opened on Friday and continues through Sunday in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
The big buzz about the three-day event is Grass Lands, the section of the festival that is dedicated to all things cannabis. It made its debut at the 2018 Outside Lands, basically as an informational/educational area where people could learn more about — but not buy or use — hemp-related products.
But the game has now changed, with Outside Lands becoming the first major music festival in the country to offer the legalized sale and consumption of pot onsite.
And people had a hard time believing their eyes as they watched all the people (aged 21 and over) legally puffing away on joints and chewing up edibles in the sectioned off Grass Lands area.
“It’s absolutely insane,” said Kaylee Harris, who had come out from Alabama to the festival with friend Talisa Gregory. “This is more weed than I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Of course, it wasn’t that long ago that something like Grass Lands would’ve been nearly inconceivable. Then California legalized the recreational use of marijuana in January and things changed. But it took the last-minute approval of both city and state officials to allow this groundbreaking moment.
“I am in awe,” Gregory said. “This is history in the making.”
And it wasn’t just the fans who were talking about what was going on at Grass Lands. Artists were also buzzing over the legalized sale and use of pot at the festival.
“Going to Green Lands later,” Blink 182’s Tom Hoppus informed fans from the stage. “I heard all about you pot-smoking weirdos.”
Another big story line going into the festival was the security measures at Outside Lands, in the wake of the mass shootings at the Gilroy Garlic Festival and elsewhere. It translated to a sizable police presence, which included some officers carrying some very large and intimidating-looking guns, as well metal detectors, the enforcement of a clear-bag policy and other screening measures.
All told, the security measures might have cost attendees a few extra moments as they entered the venue. But it seemed like a small price to pay in order to be safe.
“The more secure, the longer the lines — I’m OK with that,” said San Francisco’s Nicholas Thorton, who was attending his 11th Outside Lands. “It’s like a 30-hour music experience. A couple of extra minutes longer in line isn’t going to alter your experience.”
The festival got off to a strong start on Day One with performances by outstanding pop vocalist Lauren Daigle, hip-hop great Lil Wayne, Bay Area favorites the Counting Crows, sophomoric pop-punk rockers Blink-182 and worthy headliners Twenty One Pilots
Acts scheduled to perform on Saturday included the multi-talented R&B/soul artist Childish Gambino, dance/electronic music star Flume, electronic/reggae/pop act Santigold, indie-rock duo Better Oblivion Community Center and folk-pop act Hozier.
The festival comes to close on Sunday with highly anticipated performances from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon (who also played a show on Friday at the Fox Theater in Oakland), R&B/gospel great Mavis Staples, multiple Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves and others.