Two days at Pier 80, one weekend trip
The Portola Music Festival ran on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, 2026 at Pier 80 in San Francisco. The organiser's general info page puts venue doors at 1pm PT both days and the FAQ sets the curfew at 11pm PT. That is 10 hours on site per day and 20 hours across the weekend, so a team working both days books two nights.
Every 2026 pass type is listed Sold Out, and the organiser publishes no 2027 dates. The terms below are the published record of the 2026 edition.
Who to send
Portola is a 21-plus event. Every attendee must be 21 on the day they plan to attend, with a valid physical government-issued photo ID. The organiser refuses expired IDs, school IDs, photocopies and photos of IDs, and digital IDs, and states that no one under 21 is admitted even with a 21-plus companion. Check the roster against that rule before passes are bought.
Two published limits shape the group. There is an 8 pass limit per household, and the site sells 2-Day GA and 2-Day VIP passes as 4-packs. Two four-packs reach the household ceiling on one order. The name on the original order cannot be changed and 2-Day passes cannot be shared, so the roster has to be settled before checkout.
Splitting the Saturday and Sunday lineups
The site names four stages: Warehouse, Crane Stage, Ship Tent and Pier Stage. Artist set times are not published on the website and drop closer to the show dates in the Portola app. For a coordinator splitting two days across a team, the app is the working document. The festival's own FAQ sets the expectation: there is no guarantee of seeing every artist, many perform at the same time, and some areas have limited capacity, so arrive early for a specific set.
The money argument for a two-day pass is published. Saturday GA was $269.95 and Sunday GA was $299.50, which totals $569.45 for the two single days against $399.95 for a 2-Day GA pass. The 2-Day pass costs $169.50 less, which is 70.2% of the two single-day price. A $2 sustainability fee is included with every pass, and the organiser states there is no difference between tiers other than price.
Cashless, and the free shuttle
Portola is a cashless event. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB and Union Pay are accepted, along with contactless payments through Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay and contactless cards. Guests can convert cash to a pre-paid Visa card at Guest Service booths. The box office at 900 Marin St takes credit or debit cards only.
There is no parking at Pier 80 or at the box office, and the organiser's instruction is do not drive to the event. The published route for a team is the free Portola shuttle. Riders take BART to 24th St. Mission Station, then board at the corner of Valencia St. and 24th St. The shuttle loops between Pier 80 and 24th St. Mission BART Station from 12:30pm to 11:30pm, with the Pier 80 loading zone at the corner of Illinois St. and 24th St. A limited number of accessible shuttles run and can be requested by email through the site.
A loop that starts 30 minutes before doors and ends 30 minutes after curfew also fixes the arrival window. A team aiming at the 1pm doors should be at the Valencia St. corner well before then.
Booking the weekend
The room request is two nights for a team working both days, or a Friday arrival for a team that wants to settle in first. bookMyTeam publishes its group rate at 10 or more rooms per night, and its how-it-works page notes that some hotels discount for as few as 5 rooms depending on season and availability, so a small crew should submit a request.
The San Francisco directory on bookMyTeam lists 562 hotels available. The published product line is a group rate 15 to 40% below the Best Available Rate, a $0 fee line, and responses within 24 to 72 hours, with 50 or more hotels replying per destination. Those are benchmarks and no city rate is published.
Submit at bookmyteam.org/rfp/submit and select Concert / Festival as the group type. Put the shuttle route in the request notes, because a property near 24th St. Mission BART Station puts the team on the free loop, and Pier 80 has no parking.
What the organiser leaves open
Two items are unpublished. The festival publishes no 2027 dates and no artist-by-artist set times on the website. Hold the two-night request, the two-day pass arithmetic and the shuttle window, then wait for the app and for the next dates.
Choosing which side of the city to book
The transit picture is published, and it points at a hotel decision. The shuttle loop terminates at 24th St. Mission BART Station, so a property near that station puts the team on the free route. The Muni T Third line runs to Third and Marin, one block from Pier 80. Caltrain reaches the 22nd Street Station, roughly a one mile walk, and the last Southbound train making all stops to San Jose departs there at 12:10 a.m. The 22nd Street platforms are reached by stairs only, and the organiser names the San Francisco Caltrain Station as the accessible alternative. Union Square-Market St, Chinatown and Yerba Buena/Moscone stations stay open until 1 a.m.
A team that books near the Mission Street loop end gets the free shuttle in both directions. A team that books elsewhere plans around the curfew and the last train.
