June 18, 2012
SF's Outside Lands Festival Returns for Fifth Year of Food, Wine, and Music
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 4 MIN.
San Francisco, CA - Heading into its fifth year and on the heels of its mind-blowing music announcement, Outside Lands, taking place August 10-12, 2012 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, reveals its most expansive food and wine lineup. Touted as the world's only gourmet music festival and for changing the meaning of concert concessions, the culinary offerings for this year's Outside Lands prove the festival has every intention of continuing to exceed expectations.
To pair with the current total of 71 music acts, including Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Jack White and Foo Fighters, ticket holders will discover over 200 different food and wine options that celebrate Northern California's rich culinary culture.
About A Taste of the Bay Area 2012: Outside Lands' A Taste of the Bay Area takes place across three fields in Golden Gate Park - Hellman Hollow, Lindley Meadow, and the Polo Field - and offers up a feast with everything from local seafood to grass-fed hot dogs to sustainable produce to Asian street food on the menu. As of now, 47 restaurants are confirmed.
Representing San Francisco's culinary diversity and forward-thinking food scene are items like Tonkatsu Sandwiches, Choripan, Shawarma Snow Cones, and Korean Tacos. On the sweet side, Mint Mojito Iced Coffees, Coconut Chai Lattes and Cucumber Melon Spritzers pair perfectly with Snickerdoodle Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches, Alfajores, and Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Cupcakes.
Fully Belly Farms returns to serve fresh organic produce at Farm Lands, the festival's farmers' market. For the complete list of restaurants and their mouthwatering menu items, please see below. More will be announced in the coming weeks.
Outside Lands' Wine Lands is found under an ornate tent in the Hellman Hollow field. Its ambiance is made to transport guests, with chandelier lights inspired by grapevines, a burgundy and yellow draped ceiling, and oversized wine barrels with benches inside them for sitting and sipping wine. Just outside the Wine Lands tent, there are picnic tables, wine barrels serving as tabletops and a 1920s vintage sink with wines on tap by Free Flow Wines.
Making for an epic wine tasting, Wine Lands places emphasis not only exposing guests to a collection of award-winning wines, primarily from Northern California vineyards, but also on giving guests the chance to personally interact with the winemakers. This year, over 30 wineries will uncork approximately 150 wines for the festival. For the complete list of wineries, please see below.
Now in its fifth year, Outside Lands has become a cherished event that the city of San Francisco has embraced. Fans from across the country flock to spend a incomparable weekend in one of America's greatest parks. Each year, festival organizers ensure that every facet of the event highlights the Bay Area and all of the components that make it one of the most desirable places to live and visit.
They also like to the say thank you to the city and the local communities surrounding the park by giving back in substantial ways, raising a total of $4.3 million for the San Francisco Recreation And Park Department. Last year alone, the festival had a $68 million impact on the city as a whole.
More artists, restaurants, wineries to be announced in the coming weeks; please visit www.sfoutsidelands.com for news.
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
