Festival season was in full swing the last weekend of September. Mid-sized festivals like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park and independent festivals like Twin Shrieks at 924 Gilman had music lovers running across the Bay to catch their favorite acts. But there was one festival that stayed on everyone’s mind long after the doors closed on October 1.
Portola festival, created by GoldenVoice (who is also known for organizing Coachella in SoCal), is a two-day festival held in an industrial part of San Francisco that was unknown to many festival goers before attending. The organizers utilized the relative sliver of land that the 60-acre Pier 80 provided allowing for a sprawling layout. Two food areas and four main stages took up the majority of the space with small photo spaces and a beautiful backdrop of the city and the cargo ships sprinkled around.
This was the second year of Portola’s existence. While my initial reactions to the festival were mixed, I still kept this factor in mind. Newer festivals always have their hiccups. And with those incidences comes beautiful improvements for the next year.
There were a few small issues that I and other festival goers encountered as the days progressed. Breaks were needed with how long the layout of the festival was (my phone tracked that I walked 10 miles each day). Patrons camped at the limited amount of benches in the food area leaving others to sit on the asphalt and stain their clothing. I wished that there were installations made by local artists sprinkled around. Without the ships, the area felt bare. The water refill stations ran dry halfway through, and when they weren’t dry, clouded water would drain into the empty bottles of thirsty guests.
The photographers I spoke to that attended the first year of the festival said that the logistics for this year improved greatly — music from other stages didn’t clash together, the Warehouse stage had a bottlenecking issue that was resolved this year, and the overall sound quality was nicer.
I liked the genre split that this festival had. The first day was electronic/DJ heavy with acts like Yung Singh, Major Lazer, COBRAH, and Flying Lotus. On the second day, Little Simz, Pabllo Vittar, Thundercat, Rina Sawayama, and Labrinth overjoyed pop, rap, and R&B lovers alike. I personally felt that the headlines of each day should have switched. It would have been a satisfying closure to have Nelly Furtado perform the second day, and Zedd the first.
In the aftermath of the festival, the city of Alameda’s government officials announced on social media that they requested to cancel Portola or to have it be hosted in a new location. The Alameda Post reported that the sound from the first iteration of the festival carried over the Bay water and into the island resident’s homes.
Many residents voiced that they loved the festival and what it’s doing for the Bay Area. A commenter under the initial Facebook post said, “The A’s have like 30 fireworks nights a year. Which is incredibly disruptive to people and animals. And yes the Blue Angels during Fleet Week was never my favorite. Alameda is an urban city, though some people wish it was Mayberry it’s not, there are urban disturbances that will impact residents. Unless you plan to try to ban all special events this doesn’t seem like a reasonable ask of another city.”
Another had this to say:
My wife and I live in Alameda and went both years – it has become our favorite music festival and love how close to home it is. This is really upsetting to see our city try to cancel or move this event. Portola brought people from all over the country to enjoy – which SF needs right now.
Facebook User
San Francisco’s Entertainment Commission received an abundance of supportive emails to keep the festival going. The San Francisco Standard reported that the Entertainment Commission and GoldenVoice will continue to work together to help lower the impact with the next festival.
Seven days after their Facebook post, Alameda officials rescinded their letter and offered to work with the organizers with the sound issue.
Overall, I had a wonderful time at last year’s festival. The performers I had a chance to watch were incredible. Labrinth, Nelly Furtado, Rina Sawayama, and Model/Actriz all had such mesmerizing acts. The 2023 line-up was stacked with talent. I’m looking forward to this year’s Portola festival and the things they’ll implement. The art scene in San Francisco is gradually coming back in an incredible way, and I’m lucky to witness it.
