Watch CBS News

Outside Lands Rakes In Economic Rewards For San Francisco Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— The organizers of Outside Lands say the music festival has been a major economist boost for San Francisco since it began six years ago. San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department received an impressive assessment at a meeting on Thursday from Greg Perloff, the CEO of Another Planet Entertainment, which produces the three-day music festival.

Perloff told the commission about 200,000 people attended this year, reaping $80 million in economic benefits.

"All the hotels in town were sold out. In fact, they were so sold out that a lot of the artists and managers and agents who are coming in could not even find a room in town," he said.

Outside Lands Rakes In Economic Rewards For San Francisco Businesses

Perloff claimed that, since the festival began, SF Rec and Park has received $8.2 million from the festival with the money used to restore the concert area to its natural habitat.

However, Katherine Howard, of the Golden Gate Park Alliance, complained that too much of the park was fenced off from the general public and trucks were parked on tree root systems.

"There's a lot of paving in Golden Gate Park. Let's see if we can get the trucks off of the tree roots and on to the paving," she said.

Perloff said trucks were only near trees for unloading periods and much of the fencing was to protect the green space.

Outside Lands is already starting to book acts for next summer and recently signed an agreement that runs until 2021.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.