Ep. 55 Festies Recap: Stern Grove 2026 + SSBD Hype

Just Vanessa and Sunny on the mic today. Sunny recaps seeing Major Lazer with Clark at Stern Grove, then hypes up Same Same But Different, one of her all-time favorite fests.

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Transcript

Cold Open And Catching Up

Sunny 0:00

Hey Vanessa.

Vanessa 0:01

Yes, Sunny?

Sunny 0:02

What do you call two best friends that love music festivals?

Vanessa 0:06

Hmm.

Sunny 0:06

I guess you'd call them Festies. Hi guys. Welcome back to Festies. I'm Sunny.

Vanessa 0:46

And I'm Vanessa.

Sunny 0:48

Can you believe it? We haven't done an episode just the two of us since February.

Vanessa 0:53

Like, did you go back and listen to all of them to see or how did

Sunny 0:57

I scrolled through and then there were a couple that I was like, was that just us, or did we have someone with us? And I listened to them. And seriously, I really don't think it's been just the two of us since uh our bottle rock lineup reaction episode. Wow.

Vanessa 1:11

Just the two of us.

Sunny 1:13

Yeah. But how have you been? I've

Sisters Visiting And Flood Weather

Sunny 1:15

I haven't talked to you like at all.

Vanessa 1:16

I know. It's life's been kind of crazy, honestly, but I'm really excited because my sisters are coming tomorrow. That my twin sisters are coming to visit. I don't really know what we have planned, but it'll be a good time.

Sunny 1:29

Oh, awesome.

Vanessa 1:29

Yeah, we're gonna try and hit up a lake and a boat. It depends on the weather, because our weather here is crazy. Like, yes, it's hot as fuck, but then like there'll just be storms.

Sunny 1:40

Like crazy rain?

Vanessa 1:41

Yeah. We got flooded last week.

Sunny 1:44

Oh no.

Vanessa 1:45

I had to like go a different way back home because one of our like our main street that leads to our house was flooded.

Sunny 1:51

I've been seeing that on the news. People are like just driving through what they think is a puddle, and then it turns out to be like deep water.

Vanessa 1:59

It's a pond.

Sunny 2:00

Yeah, it's a pond.

Vanessa 2:02

It's crazy because it's not like it was even raining like all day long. It maybe rained like an hour and it caused all this flooding. Like the amount of rain that falls down here is insane. I've never seen anything like it. Wow. It's like having buckets poured at at a time. Like it's just someone's just up there with buckets. Someone's up there with buckets.

Sunny 2:21

Yeah.

Vanessa 2:21

It's crazy.

Sunny 2:22

I mean, you're coming from the best weather in the world.

Vanessa 2:26

I know.

Sunny 2:27

In the Bay Area.

Vanessa 2:29

So I miss it.

Sunny 2:30

Yeah.

Stern Grove Basics And The Vibe

Sunny 2:32

We've got two things on deck today. First, Stern Grove. Clark and I saw Major Lazer a couple days ago. And then we actually got media passes for another festival this year. And I'm super excited because it's one of my favorites. Same same but different. Woohoo! Let's start with Stern Grove.

Vanessa 2:53

That was this past weekend.

Sunny 2:55

Yeah. Stern Grove is in San Francisco and it goes every Sunday throughout the summer. And uh it's been going since 1938. So this year is its 89th season. Oh my god. I know, right? Crazy. And it's just set in this beautiful eucalyptus grove. And it's like a natural outdoor amphitheater. It's completely free. Well, they accept donations, of course. And yeah, it's just like a picnic vibe. You bring your blankets, low chairs, and you can set up on the lawn or up in the hills. It's just a really pretty venue.

Vanessa 3:32

I like can't imagine a major lazer at Stern Grove.

Sunny 3:36

I know, I know. So we were with uh okay, so our friend Aaron, who was on the show, I can't remember how many episodes ago, but he's been on the show. His sister Megan, that's who we were with, and she was just like, it is so fun to see Stern Grove like this with this energy.

Vanessa 3:52

I know it's like not who you would picture really at Stern Grove.

Sunny 3:57

Totally. And I also got the vibe that it gave all of these parents, these young, cool parents, a chance to party because with their kids. Exactly. Yeah, there are all these families there, but it was all like, you know, parents that are like our age and a little bit older, just like having a blast.

Vanessa 4:16

Yeah. Oh I hate it that you said that. That made me feel really old.

Sunny 4:20

I know, sorry.

Vanessa 4:21

Parents our age, no way. That means they'd have teenagers.

Sunny 4:25

What?

Vanessa 4:26

No, never mind. It was parents with young kids. I was picturing like parents with kids that would enjoy major lazer.

Sunny 4:33

No, no. I'm talking like toddlers dancing with their headphones.

Vanessa 4:36

Oh, okay, okay, okay. I see what you're saying now. Like if I had had a kid like four years ago, yeah. I'd be like, let's go to fucking major lazer and bring the kid.

Sunny 4:45

Yep, and bring the kid. Um, so yeah, but I mean the set was just like your exciting, crazy major lazer set. They went so hard. Like I swear it was nonstop, just banger after banger. And then they had maybe like five dances with them. What else I loved about their set is they threw in a lot of Bay Area rap in the room. Yeah.

Vanessa 5:10

So that was what the fuck he's doing.

Sunny 5:12

Yeah. Yeah.

Vanessa 5:14

He can read the room.

Sunny 5:16

Yep.

Major Lazer Energy And World Cup Spillover

Sunny 5:18

Oh, this is the other thing is there was an extra level of excitement because the um of the World Cup. Oh. And so that day, as soon as Stern Grove ended, was the Mexico game. Oh. I know, I know. It's sad now. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Vanessa 5:36

We lost to the Brits.

Sunny 5:37

So this was before that game. So at the time, it was just so much hype for Mexico. And then a lot of people had their Brazil jerseys on too. But during Stern Grove, Brazil got knocked out. So there was a little bit of like a weird, like, like this kid behind us was so sad. Oh. And so everyone around him was like, it's okay, you know. Yeah. But yeah, I wasn't expecting this World Cup frenzy to be like spilling over into Stern Grove. So that was really fun.

Vanessa 6:07

That's so funny.

Sunny 6:08

And then side note, after that, we ended up going to uh Dan's bar to go watch the game. So that was cool too.

Vanessa 6:15

Oh, that's nice. That's where you went to go watch it. I kept saying I wanted to go watch it somewhere, and then I just watched it from my couch every time. While I also had Love Island on my phone because it comes out at the same time.

Sunny 6:30

You have to have two things at once. Yeah, I know. I mean, soccer's boring. Just kidding.

Vanessa 6:34

That's what yeah, it is. I'm sorry, it is. It's literally is only to me, it is literally only exciting during the World Cup. Otherwise, it's boring. And I hope my kids never want to play soccer. Sorry, Ed, he played soccer, but I can't. I mean I never played soccer and I'm Mexican. But I did, it is like the sport I watched the most like growing up. But yeah, I mean I'm kidding, of course, when my kid wants to play soccer, we'll play soccer. But I really hope they don't want to play soccer.

Sunny 7:00

You have to try every other sport first, and then we can move on to soccer. Yeah. Yeah. Okay,

Getting In And Finding The Best Spot

Sunny 7:06

but yeah, Stern Grove, it was really fun. Like it always is. But I think now we have it down to a science. When to get there, what to expect getting in line, where to go sit.

Vanessa 7:16

Yeah. What time did you get there though?

Sunny 7:18

Oh, well, we had a slow start. The plan was to get there at nine, but and the show starts at what time? So you get there early, and then at 10 o'clock, the gates open, but that only leads into like a corral. And then once that fills up, the line stops again. And then they open the gates at 12. Ugh. And that's when everyone can file in.

Vanessa 7:41

So I this is all AM and like 10 a.m. for those listening. It's like a day thing.

Sunny 7:48

Right. Yes. That would be wild, Stern Grove at night. That would be crazy.

Vanessa 7:52

Yeah.

Sunny 7:53

Even though we have the late start, we still got a good spot. We've now started going to what they call the West Meadow, which is on the side and you can't see the stage from there, but they have a big screen and it's just so much more chill over there. And that's where all the dogs are allowed to go. So I also like being over there for the dogs.

Vanessa 8:10

Oh, you don't have to fight for your life to like get up and down the mountain or the hill to go to the bathroom or whatever.

Sunny 8:16

No, there's no scaling a mountain.

Vanessa 8:20

It literally is what it feels like. It's crazy.

Sunny 8:23

Fun as that looks.

Vanessa 8:24

Very fun, but don't take your drunk friends there and go up in the in the trees.

Sunny 8:29

I don't know how they don't have more injuries. Maybe I just don't hear about it, but it is steep.

Vanessa 8:34

Very.

Sunny 8:35

Yeah, I remember when we went and we were expecting uh my dad was gonna come with us. And when we got our spot on the hill, I was like, shoot, is he gonna be able to make it up here?

Vanessa 8:44

Oh my god, no, he was prepared.

Sunny 8:46

I know. He showed up with his walking sticks, yeah, and just scaled that shit way faster than we did. What a G. I know. Uh I was like, I don't know why I was so concerned. Of course, you'd have your walking sticks with you.

Opener Fijiana And Future Shows

Sunny 9:01

So did they have an opener? They did, yeah. Her name is Fijiana, and she's actually from Richmond. And she's a Fijian rapper. Fijiana? Fijiana, yeah. I love that. She was really cool. I mean, to be honest, it took a while for me to warm up to her. I was imagining just like a bigger production behind her because it was her and a few dancers, and then like a track, and she was just rapping her songs over the track. But I loved her Fijian pride, and she made a comment about being at Stern Grove a few years ago with an ex-boyfriend and being like, Oh, I want to perform on that stage one day. And he was like, eh. And then here she is now, you know. So that was really exciting. She's young, she's 21. Um, so I'm excited to see where her career goes.

Vanessa 9:48

Are you gonna be able to make it to any more this year? Any more Stern Grove shows?

Sunny 9:53

Oh, well, uh there's a couple more coming up. I would want to go to Patty LaBelle, but that lands on Outside Lands. So that's a no-go. And then the very last weekend, they call it the picnic weekend. They have Saturday and Sunday. And Saturday is Public Enemy, and then Sunday is Al Green.

Vanessa 10:14

Oh wow.

Sunny 10:15

I've have not gotten the chance to see Al Green, but at the same time, my dad got us all a house in Laguna for vacation and it runs that week. So if we wanted to make it to Al Green, we would leave a day early. And right now I'm feeling like I don't want to leave a day early to go to Al Green, but we'll see. But might have to miss him this time. That's okay though.

Vanessa 10:38

Okay. Well, that sounds like you guys had such a good time at Major Lazer, a little different than when we saw Major Lazer at Bonnaroo. We were like so exhausted. It was 2 a.m. probably, not 2 p.m.

Sunny 10:52

Wait, was that this year?

Vanessa 10:53

Yeah, uh Bonnaroo. Did you bring that up on our episode? I don't think so. I thought we did. Oh, then I forgot. We only saw like two or three songs, and then we left because we were so tired. But literally on the whole walk out, we were like, is this watch out for this? Oh my god, they did something so mean. They like started playing it, and then they were like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you guys aren't ready for that song. And I was like, please, I'm leaving.

Sunny 11:16

Yeah, yeah. They did the same thing for this set, so I think that's a shtick that they do. Yeah, they played it last.

Vanessa 11:23

They know that's the best song. You didn't have to wait. Yeah, that would have been so fun. Anyways, okay. Well,

Same Same But Different Media News

Vanessa 11:31

let's switch gears a little bit because I know how excited you must be for same, same but different. We're a little over a month away. Two months away.

Sunny 11:42

Shit, that's it.

Vanessa 11:44

It's a little over two months away. I'm sorry. A little over two months away.

Sunny 11:47

Don't scare me.

Vanessa 11:48

I know, sorry.

Sunny 11:49

Yeah, it's at the end of September.

Vanessa 11:51

Yeah.

Sunny 11:52

We actually got media passes, which is super exciting because same same but different is my second favorite festival. Outside lands will probably always be my top, but same same is a close second. We went to same same but different once back in 2023 and we volunteered. So we've only been to this festival once.

Vanessa 12:08

Okay, but what do you love so much about same same but different? Convince me to go.

Sunny 12:13

Convince you to go. Okay, here's my elevator pitch.

The Elevator Pitch For Lake Perris

Sunny 12:17

No. Um, okay, so first the location. It's held at Lake Paris State Park, which is about an hour southeast of Los Angeles. The park has this beautiful lake. And since it's already a campground, the infrastructure is a lot nicer than a lot of festivals. Like there's real bathrooms and real showers, and then the size of it. They cap ticket sales at 7,500 people. And just for a reference point, Coachella has about 125,000 attendees per day, and outside lands has about 75,000.

Vanessa 12:50

Oh my god. Okay. So it's very small.

Sunny 12:54

It is very, very small. The community vibe at same scene but different is unmatched. And the vibe. This festival draws an older crowd, so it's like a chill vibe, but that doesn't mean that it's not high energy and fun. It's basically just a playground for adults. There are curated experiences throughout the festival. So wherever you are, you can find a scene that fits you. Whether you're floating on the water, listening to the floating DJ booth, dancing in the crowd at a stage, or going to a workshop. And they also have these interactive art areas that you can just walk through. There's really something for everybody. Oh, they also have an area where they like mount instruments on the trees that anyone can grab. After the music's done, they'll have these jam sessions late at night with, you know, like I could go pick up a guitar and jam if I wanted to. Oh, I love that. I know, right? I remember we were sleeping in our well, not we were trying to fall asleep in our campsite, and there was the jam session going on, and someone was like shredding, and I was like, Clark, someone's shredding over there. We should get up and go see it. And we didn't, and I regret not going, but I could keep going, but yeah, that's if I had to boil it down with you know the main things I love about it. That's what I love about this festival.

Vanessa 14:04

I want to go. So you said it was at the end of September, so it's September 25th through 27th, right?

Sunny 14:11

Yeah. Uh huh.

Vanessa 14:12

Okay, yeah. I remember because I have a wedding that weekend, and that's why I can't go.

Sunny 14:16

Because I remember we were talking about going and then tickets.

Vanessa 14:19

I literally had tickets. I had to sell them back.

Sunny 14:21

Oh, that's right.

Vanessa 14:21

Yeah.

Sunny 14:22

Clark actually bought a ticket, and I was in the middle of my book that's talking about like manifesting in the universe, right? Yeah. So I was like, I'm not gonna buy a ticket because I don't need to, because we're gonna get media passes. So I didn't buy a ticket. And we got media passes. Nice. Clark also has to sell back his ticket or sell his ticket to a friend. This year's really exciting because, you know, obviously we have the media, but we have a few other festies coming with us. We have our friend Shannon coming and then Connor and Justin, who were with us at Outside Lands. So shout out to Shannon, Connor, and Justin. They're going to um we've got a group chat going. We're already planning stuff out. Shannon was like, I'm obsessed with your spreadsheets.

Vanessa 15:02

So oh good. Okay, so who's gonna be

Lineup Talk And Ticket Tier Breakdown

Vanessa 15:06

there?

Sunny 15:06

Oh, lineup. Um this is only the first phase that's been announced, so there's still a phase two coming. But we have LS Dream of the Trees, Tate B, and Grammatic. And then other acts are Andy Frasco in the UN. Woo woo.

Vanessa 15:23

That's the only one that matters, Andy Frasco.

Sunny 15:28

We're super excited for that because I know you guys have been trying to get us to see him with the band for a long time. So this will be our opportunity. We've talked about this numerous times about the older we get, the less we know on the lineup. But it doesn't matter. There's so many things to do. And then this festival also has a reputation for being an electronic music festival. But when we went there in 2023, we saw more bands than EDM. So we will see. There's still tickets available as of what's today, July 7th, 2026. They have three-day general mission passes for 446. And that includes camping. Three-day VIP passes for 693. Some of the VIP perks are access to a VIP lounge, happy hour with complimentary drinks, shaded relaxation areas with misting fans, air-conditioned bathrooms. Oh, air-conditioned bathrooms. That might be worth it just for that. And then premium viewing areas of the stage. And then they also have a three-day limitless pass for 1,905 bucks. The perks of that are all the VIP stuff, plus three complimentary meals a day, complimentary curated small bites, unlimited island boat pass, backstage limitless lounge, which is only accessible by the artists playing. There's a front row viewing area, there's an elevated side stage viewing deck, and then a free swag bag. They only sell 77 of those passes.

Vanessa 16:54

I would do that. It's not that much. For all those perks, I would do that.

Sunny 16:59

I thought the same thing.

Vanessa 17:00

I mean, don't get me wrong, it is a lot. It's $2,000. But for all those things, yeah, and then you get fed every day.

Sunny 17:06

You get drinks every day. I think a lot of the VIP stuff that includes drinks are worth it if you drink. You know? Right.

Vanessa 17:17

Yeah, I would do that.

Sunny 17:18

You can hang out with Andy Frasco.

Vanessa 17:23

I think I paid $110 to meet him.

Sunny 17:26

Wow. Damn, true fan right there. Let's see. Oh, and then kids, 13 and under free three-day pass, can go for $190. And all those tickets are still available. So if we're enticing you to go to this festival at all, please go get your tickets. Clark and I are so grateful to have been granted media passes for this festival. I mean, we loved it when we volunteered back in 2023 before Festies was even an idea. And we just fell in love with it. So coming back this time as media just feels really full circle. And I'm glad that we get to share it with our community. We'll have a tips and tricks episode coming out sometime, probably in August. So keep an ear out for that. And I think that's all I have for same, same but different for now.

Vanessa 18:10

Want me to close us out?

Sunny 18:11

Close us out.

Vanessa 18:12

Okay. That

Where To Get Tickets And Wrap

Vanessa 18:13

is a wrap on this one, guys. Head to ssbdfest.com to get your tickets for same, same but different. And if you're in the Bay Area, there are still a few Stern Grove concerts left this summer. So you can go to SternGrove.org to enter the lotteries for the different dates that are still available. And thanks for hanging out with us today. If you guys have a moment, please leave the podcast a rating or review wherever you listen to your podcast and share it with a friend or your festies. For more festies content, you can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Festies Podcast. And if you're looking for ways to make your festival planning easier this season, check out our digital toolkit. You can find the link to that in our Instagram bio. It has a packing planner, squad gear, tracker, and checklist so you can keep on top of everything. And we'll catch you on the next one. Bye. Bye.