OluKai's Aloha Spirit Rocks Outside Lands

Since its inception in 2008, Outside Lands Festival has quickly grown into one of the nation's premier music, food and culture celebrations, notable for its sustainability and environmental efforts, and the money it raises for San Francisco Recreation & Park and area charitable organizations. This year, OluKai has re-joined the festival as the sole footwear sponsor. The sold-out festival takes over most of Golden Gate Park and is expected to once again attract 200,000 people over the three days of August 7-9, 2015. The extensive lineup of musicians and bands, includes a star-studded list of headliners: Elton John, Ben Harper, Billy Idol, Mumford and Sons, Sam Smith, The Black Keys and Wilco, among others. According to OluKai's event manager, Sarah Nuttall, OluKai will host an exclusive VIP lounge at Outside Lands called the Aloha Lounge where guests will have an opportunity to experience the comfort and quality of OluKai footwear. Festival guests who make a purchase onsite will receive an exclusive OluKai gift that will only be available at the festival. Throughout the festival, there will be social media games and competitions using the tag and hashtag @olukai and #AnywhereAloha. OluKai's partnership with Outside Lands, explains Nuttall, is part of the company's continuing effort to establish a legacy of thoughtful sponsorships and is an especially good fit for the company's ongoing cultural initiative #AnywhereAloha – an aspirational campaign design to inspire and share the Aloha spirit beyond the islands. OluKai will be bringing the Aloha Sculpture, a 3-D work of art spelling out the word "Aloha," which was created by Oahu-based artist Kamea Hadar. Hadar is also the co-director of Pow! Wow! Hawaii—a global network of artists that organizes gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, a creative space, concerts, and live art installations across the globe. During the Outside Lands Festival, Hadar and Miami based artist Tatiana Suarez will collaboratively repaint the Aloha sculpture, channeling inspiration from the vibrant San Francisco atmosphere. Hadar says the Aloha Sculpture was inspired by the iconic "Love" sculptures that are seen throughout New York City. He wanted to create something similarly simple and yet iconic that pushed the boundaries of his usual 2-dimensional work. The sculpture accomplishes that, he says, "with an interesting twist," incorporating the space or spiritual-spatial construct of aloha—the alo or "face" and the ha or "breath" in aloha. Nuttall says OluKai is "super excited to be a part of Outside Lands Festival again." She says many aspects of the event align with OluKai's vision of producing a high quality product with sustainability and connection at its core. "We also just wanted to bring the energy and spirit of Hawaii and Aloha to San Francisco, and the festival…The festival fits with what we want to share culturally as part of the #AnywhereAloha campaign." Thanks to activities like OluKai's #AnywhereAloha art exhibition, Outside Lands is more than just a typical music festival. Besides art, entertainment and culture, the place is also an absolute food-lover's nirvana. The gastro "lands" at Outside Lands offer a veritable moving feast of food and drink opportunities, featuring food trucks, booths run by popular local restaurants, and further delineated by areas offering beer, wine, cheese and chocolate. Festival goers can also sign up for VIP food and drink pairing opportunities showcasing local restaurants and wines. The overarching goal of OluKai's partnership with Outside Lands is to share the message that "Aloha was born in Hawaii, but it is a spirit not bound by geography." For more information on the festival visit SFOUTSIDELANDS.COM SHARE YOUR ALOHA @OLUKAI #ANYWHEREALOHA