Sound Summit is held at the Mountain Theater (aka Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater) on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, above Mill Valley to the east and Stinson Beach to the west.
Here’s a Google link to the venue: https://goo.gl/maps/65ZtgNme7xm
Please have your printed TIXR tickets in hand when you arrive at the venue entrance for scanning and to receive your wristband.
YES! Cell service is spotty and unreliable on the mountain. To ensure the smoothest entry, please print out your tickets. We'll recycle the paper for you.
We say arrive early and spend the day. Traffic will increase as the day goes on, so getting a head start is a good move. Come grab a seat above the Bay, give all our acts the great audience they deserve, and stretch out a bit closer to the clouds.
Our parking lots and box office open at 9:00 AM. Doors open at 10:00 AM. Music starts at 11:30 AM and ends at 7:00 PM.
Buses begin leaving Mill Valley for the Mountain Theater at 9:00 AM. Last bus leaves the parking lots for the venue at 4:00 PM sharp.
Summit Lot opens at 9:00 AM
Box Office opens at 9:00 AM
Doors open at 10:00 AM
Music starts at 11:30 AM and ends at 7:00 PM
The Mountain Theater is an historic stone amphitheater built in the 1930’s. It’s a crescent of ascending rows of serpentine quarried from Mount Tam. Seating is General Admission, first come, first served.
We also have a General Admission pit in front of the stage. We just ask that you respect your neighboring Summiteers and please refrain from videotaping any of the bands.
Well, unless you can do the Star Trek thing, you’re either on the bus, driving, hiking, or biking. See more below.
Our bus shuttles leave from the Pohono Street Park & Ride Lot in Mill Valley, just off the Stinson Beach exit on Hwy to 101. Look for our staff and tent & the Yellow First Student School Buses. Attendants will be on hand to help direct you accordingly. If the Pohono Lot fills up, there is additional parking at the Manzanita Park & Ride Lot a short walk away.
The first bus up the mountain is at 9:00 AM and the last is at 4:00 PM sharp.
Look for our staff and tent & the Yellow First Student School Buses. Buses will run in a continuous loop up to the venue and back but the bus schedule is dependent on traffic up and down the mountain. Please plan to arrive early and allow ample time to get to the venue. Note that the last bus up to the Mountain Theater leaves Mill Valley at 4:00 PM SHARP.
Buses will depart the Mountain Theater entrance immediately following the show at 7:00 PM.
Buses will run back down the mountain throughout the day from the theater entrance to the Pohono Lot if you want to leave earlier than 7:00 PM. There are no ins & outs. If you leave, you will not be readmitted.
There is also traffic on the mountain throughout the day, so we can’t predict exact intervals for those bus departures and ask that you be patient in waiting for buses if you wish to leave earlier in the day.
You must purchase a round-trip bus pass directly from our ticketing site. The cost is $30.
Please remember to have your printed bus pass ready to show the parking lot attendants for scanning at bus entry points.
If you’ve purchased a parking pass for the Summit Lot, continue up East Ridgecrest Blvd, past the Venue Entrance for about a mile. There will be signage to direct you. The Summit Lot entrance will be on your left.
Please have your printed parking pass ready to be scanned by the parking lot attendants when you arrive.
Shuttles will drive you back down to the Mountain Theater entrance.
We strongly encourage you to fill your vehicle with friends and family and carpool to the show, both to reduce your carbon footprint and minimize traffic on the mountain.
Note: Please don’t confuse this paid lot with the Rock Spring Parking Lot, which you’ll pass just prior to reaching the Mountain Theater entrance. There will be no public vehicle parking at Rock Spring on the day of the event.
9:00 AM
Shuttle buses – the same 20-seaters that brought you from the Summit Lot to the theater entrance – will be running at intervals back to the Summit Lot throughout the day. Please be patient and one will come around soon.
Please Note: There are No Ins & Outs. Once you leave the venue, you may not return. As the saying goes, once you go, you’re gone.
Parking on Mount Tam is very limited. That said, there are areas where it’s safe and legal to park if you arrive early and can find them. However, there are no guarantees. If you’re feeling adventurous and do choose to drive in search of such spaces, please do so wisely and avoid any areas where parking is clearly not allowed. Oh, and please fill up your vehicles for the same reasons stated above.
You’re of course welcome to use those services. Just ensure the driver knows where he or she is going, as the Mountain Theater has no physical address – just East Ridgecrest Blvd.
No drop offs will be allowed at the venue entrance. Please have your driver drop you off in the vicinity of the Rock Spring Parking Lot.
There will be a lot of traffic heading down from the venue and above after the show, so Uber and Lyft pickups are going to be a bit tricky. We also want to add that cell service up there can be sketchy at best and often non-existent. Please take that into account. All rideshare pick ups will take place at the Rock Spring Parking Lot.
There are trails aplenty that will lead you to Sound Summit. If you want to wind your way up Mount Tam on foot, here’s a Trail Map, courtesy of Friends of Mt. Tam. Just give yourself enough time to get where you’re going when you want to be there.
If you do hike up and don't feel up to hiking down, we’ll give you a free bus ride down the mountain to our Mill Valley Bus Lot at Pohono after the show for all that hard work, just so you won’t be trekking down in the dark.
Our inside sources tell us the sun will set at 7:29 pm on Saturday, September 7th.
If you feel like pedaling, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition will be hosting parking for bicyclists who wish to ride up to Sound Summit behind the Rock Springs Parking Lot. Your bike will be in good hands while you’re digging cool tunes above the Bay.
Please Note Again: There will be no public vehicle parking at Rock Spring on the day of the event.
Maps and more info on these options can be found at our Getting There & Back page: https://staging.soundsummit.net/getting-there/
The health and safety of the Sound Summit community is our top priority. If protocols evolve regarding public gatherings, we will post all requirements for fans to adhere to prior to the festival dates here on our website. You expressly agree to comply with all Federal, State, and Local laws, ordinance, regulations, and the rules set forth by the Sound Summit event organizers when attending Sound Summit.
