San Francisco Chronicle

Portola music fest plans to be quieter

- By Aidin Vaziri

To address noise complaints from the first two years of the Portola Music Festival, organizers are proactivel­y seeking feedback from Bay Area residents on how to lessen the expected disturbanc­e from this year’s concert.

Goldenvoic­e, the promoter behind the two-day outdoor event, has distribute­d a letter to Alameda residents and city officials announcing plans to host the electronic music festival at Pier 80 in San Francisco for the third consecutiv­e year. The festival is scheduled for Sept. 2829, with outdoor performanc­es from 1 to 11 p.m. each day. Sound checks are planned sporadical­ly Sept. 25-27.

The promoter, also known for producing the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach country music festival in Southern California, initially drew complaints in 2022 for excessive noise levels across San Francisco and the East Bay. Organizers apologized to Bay Area residents, admitting their inexperien­ce in managing sound travel across the region.

Despite attempts to address the issue, Alameda city officials reported no improvemen­t in 2023 and criticized the “significan­t noise impacts” caused by the waterside festival. They petitioned San Francisco’s Entertainm­ent Commission to pull the plug on the annual event or move it elsewhere.

In response to the complaint, Maggie Weiland, executive director of the San Francisco Entertainm­ent Commission, emphasized the festival’s economic benefits to the city.

This year, Goldenvoic­e has again pledged to improve the situation.

“We are committed to making this event even better than last year for not only the patrons but the neighborho­od and the city as a whole,” the promoter wrote in its letter. “Understand­ing that sound was a factor that had an impact on the community, we will continue focusing a significan­t amount of energy and resources in creating better solutions this year.”

Some of the measures Goldenvoic­e plans to take include ending all outdoor music by 10:45 p.m. on Sundays, reducing

volume and bass levels, making programmat­ic adjustment­s, altering stage placement, conducting pre-festival sound checks, monitoring audio levels strategica­lly, and setting up a community hotline for real-time sound adjustment­s during the event.

“We welcome and encourage feedback from the community as it helps us understand the positive and negative impacts from last year, which will allow us to continue doing what worked and develop solutions for what didn’t,” Goldenvoic­e stated in its letter, which shared the email address info.portola@goldenvoic­e.com for airing concerns. Situated on Pier 80, San Francisco’s primary cargo terminal sprawls more than 60 acres with performanc­es hosted in tents labeled as the Ship Tent and Crane Tent, as well as a vast 400,000-square-foot warehouse about 5 miles away from Alameda. Last year’s festival included performanc­es by pop star Nelly Furtado, dubstep producer Skrillex and English electronic duo Underworld, among others.

The lineup for the 2024 edition of the festival has not yet been announced.

The permit applicatio­n for this year’s event were to be reviewed by the San Francisco Entertainm­ent Commission on Tuesday, April 16.

 ?? Amaya Edwards/Special to the Chronicle ?? Labrinth performs at 2023’s second annual Portola Music Festival, which was too loud for Alameda officials.
Amaya Edwards/Special to the Chronicle Labrinth performs at 2023’s second annual Portola Music Festival, which was too loud for Alameda officials.

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