For the eighteenth year in a row, Outside Lands Music Festival will return to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for three days of music, art, food, and culture. The festival - a Bay Area staple since 2008 - will play host to dozens of artists ranging across multiple genres and generations from August 7th to 9th, 2026.

We are taking a look at ten of our most anticipated artists that are set to take the stage at this year’s edition of the festival. Check out some of our picks and honorable mentions below.

Charli XCX
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 8:40 PM - 9:55 PM
Where: Lands End Stage

The iconic pop star is fresh off releasing her brand new album Music, Fashion, Film, and she’s always been known to deliver a larger-than-life performance. While it may not be Brat summer anymore, we’re confident that the effervescent pop songstress will be bringing a show-stopping set to the Main Stage to kick off the weekend.

Turnstile
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 7:20 PM - 8:20 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

Not quite punk but not quite alternative, Turnstile have been thrilling crowds with their genre-bending brand of rock that inspires the biggest singalongs and the craziest of mosh pits. We still remember seeing them at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre a few years ago, and it was nothing but stagedivers galore. We’re hyped for their hour-long set on Friday night.

Death Cab For Cutie
When: Sunday, August 9th, 2026
Time: 12:40 PM - 1:30 PM, 8:25-9:40 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

The indie-rock act will be giving fans a special treat, with two different sets performed throughout the Sunday date of this year’s festival; once in the morning, once at night. The legendary alternative rock outfit released their eleventh studio album, I Built You A Tower, earlier this summer, and there’s no doubt in our minds that they’ll be bringing all the emotions to the Sutro Stage at sunrise and sunset.

Modest Mouse
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 8:50 PM - 9:50 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

Indie rock fans are in for a treat this weekend as some of the genre’s biggest acts are set to take the stage. Among them, none may be more iconic than the aforementioned Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, who are set to close out Friday night on the Sutro Stage with their outstanding blend of emotive alternative rock and indie. With a new album under their belt, 2026’s An Eraser and a Maze, fans are sure to be in for a treat.

Geese
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 5:50 PM - 6:50 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

While The Strokes may be headlining on Saturday night, their predecessors are making waves of their own. Geese have become one of the most buzzed-about acts in alternative music, bringing their enigmatic stylings of alternative and indie to stages everywhere, from the world’s biggest festival stages to Studio 8H on Saturday Night Live. We know to expect the unexpected, and that makes us all the more excited, particularly if they’re breaking out songs from their 2025 album, Getting Killed.

Lucy Dacus
When: Saturday, August 8th, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM
Where: Lands End Stage

While Lucy Dacus was leaving a lasting impression with her own brand of gentle, emotional solo music, the rise of supergroup Boygenius (formed with singer-songwriters Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers) catapulted the singer-songwriter into the stratosphere. She’s got a new album, 2025’s Forever Is A Feeling, under her belt, and the crowd is sure to be swooning over her tender vocal stylings.

The Temper Trap
When: Sunday, August 9th, 2026
Time: 5:35 PM - 6:25 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

The Australian indie rock collective has been gone for the better part of a decade. Now, they’re back with an all-new record (Sungazer, released just last month) that proves their music can still stand the test of time, whether they’re playing in the smallest of clubs or the largest of festival stages. As much as we loved Sungazer, let’s be honest: we all can’t wait to hear “Sweet Disposition” ring throughout Golden Gate Park.

The Story So Far
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 2:55 PM - 3:40 PM
Where: Sutro Stage

What’s a Bay Area festival without a performance from a Bay Area band? At this point, The Story So Far have performed on nearly every Bay Area stage imaginable, from the now-defunct Red House in Walnut Creek to other Northern California festivals like BottleRock. Now, the pop-punk act can check off Outside Lands’ Sutro Stage from their bucket list, with an energetic set that is sure to provide fans with old and new favorites.

Sawyer Hill
When: Friday, August 7th, 2026
Time: 2:50 PM - 3:30 PM
Where: Panhandle Stage

Hailing from Arkansas, indie-blues rocker Sawyer Hill has a voice and presence that is sure to make everyone in the vicinity of the festival’s Panhandle Stage stop and take notice. With a handful of singles and an EP under his belt, the singer-songwriter is set to release his highly anticipated debut album, Everybody’s Home, Nobody’s Happy, later this month. Among his original tracks, we’re hoping that cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” makes an appearance on the set list.

DJO
When: Saturday, August 8th, 2026
Time: 6:50 PM - 7:50 PM
Where: Lands End

From psychedelic rock in Post Animal to his own musical endeavors as DJO, actor and musician Joe Keery has certainly risen up through the ranks with three wide-ranging alternative albums over the last few years (a few years as the charismatic fan-favorite Steve Harrington on Netflix’s Stranger Things definitely helped bring some attention, too). Keery will be one of the closing acts on Saturday night, and with three albums of material to pull from, including last year’s The Crux, we’re confident that we’ll be in for a good time at the sun starts to set on the festival grounds.

Honorable Mentions