Recently, San Francisco's annual Outside Lands festival has announced a new policy on bringing bags to the festival for this year's event. The policy states that only bags made of clear plastic, clear vinyl, or clear PVC. Also allowed are one-gallon Ziploc bags, small clutches, and fanny packs. All other bags will not be allowed into the festival. I've been going to this festival for 3 years now and I, along with many other Outside Lands attendees, think this is a ridiculous and incredibly inconvenient policy for the following reasons:

1) Where the hell are we supposed to put our stuff? Clear backpacks are hard to find, and using Ziploc bags and fanny packs is extremely unrealistic. Where do we put our water supply? What about extra clothes for when it gets cold at night? The event goes on all day and the weather is unpredictable, so carrying everything in ziploc bags would be awful.

2) This announcement has been posted so quietly that not many people will know about it and the result will be many unhappy people not being allowed in because of a rule they weren't aware of. Most of the Outside Lands attendees bring backpacks, so what's gonna happen to them?

3) The festival is citing safety as the reasoning behind this policy change, but how will this make the event any safer? All bags are thoroughly searched at the entry points and if you didn't have a gun upon entering, one won't randomly appear in your bag in the middle of the festival. If you want safety then hire a larger security staff that actually knows what they're doing.

4) This policy can and will cause more theft. If someone can see everything you have in your bag, it'll make it so much easier for them to take what they want. If safety is the #1 concern of the festival, then why is this not an issue for them?

5) Obviously this is a huge invasion of privacy.

To summarize, this bag policy will not make the festival safer and could make it even less safe, as well as creating a huge & ridiculous inconvenience for its attendees. A larger security presence is what will provide safety to concertgoers, not this.