Mayor Lurie Celebrates Three Successful Weekends of Major Concerts, Boosting San Francisco's Recovery

09/02/2025

[ Article originally appeared in www.sf.gov ]

Mayor Daniel Lurie celebrated three successful weekends of major concerts in Golden Gate Park, continuing to drive San Francisco’s recovery with $150 million in economic activity projected for the city. Over the first three weekends in August, the city hosted Dead & Company, Outside Lands, and Zach Bryan, welcoming more than 450,000 people to Golden Gate Park and bringing visitors from across the region, the country, and the world to San Francisco.

“Our city came together for three safe and fun weekends in Golden Gate Park celebrating San Francisco,” said Mayor Lurie. “Arts and culture are helping to drive our city’s comeback, and we’re not stopping here—we have more concerts coming to Civic Center, Union Square, and Moscone Center. Thank you to everybody in San Francisco who played a part in these three successful weekends, and we are excited to continue welcoming visitors back to our city.” 

Key stats from the concert weekends:

• $150 million in economic activity projected
• More than 450,000 attendees across the seven concerts
• Hotel occupancy increased 37% during the weekend of Dead & Company’s shows and 9% during Outside Lands, reaching roughly 90% occupancy citywide each weekend
• Overall crime decreased 59% from last year, between August 1 and 17, in Richmond and Taraval police districts, the San Francisco Police Department districts that encompass Golden Gate Park and the areas immediately north and south
• 400 union employees built out the stages and production equipment for the shows
• More than 12,000 part-time employees worked throughout all events
• 60% of Zach Bryan concert attendees came from within 50 miles of San Francisco

The momentum will continue into the fall and winter, with a free concert in Union Square on September 7 featuring Poolside, a free concert in Civic Center on September 13 celebrating 15 years of Empire featuring Shaboozey, and the first concert ever at Moscone Center happening on December 19 and 20 featuring FISHER.

The three successful weekends build on months of progress by Mayor Lurie to make the city safer, cleaner, and more vibrant for residents and visitors and drive San Francisco’s economic recovery. Mayor Lurie has taken major strides to keep San Francisco safer and cleaner to boost downtown recovery—with overall crime down nearly 30% citywide and down 45% in Union Square and the Financial District. Earlier this month, the mayor signed the latest piece of his PermitSF plan, driving downtown recovery and making it easier for businesses of all sizes to expand and grow.

SOURCE: https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-celebrates-three-successful-weekends-of-major-concerts-boosting-san-franciscos-recovery