What should I know about parking at and near Levi’s Stadium?
At the time of publication, you can still buy parking tickets at Levi’s Stadium officially, for around $50. (At this stage pre-show, all official parking for Levi’s Stadium’s last huge show — Taylor Swift’s two-night Eras tour — was already sold out, so you may consider acting fast.)
Accessible parking information can be found on the Levi’s Stadium site.
You can check independent services like ParkWhiz or SpotHero for non-stadium parking spots nearby, although these will likely still be a long walk — almost a mile — to the stadium. If you’re doing this, be sure to map the route using a tool like Google Maps, to make sure you know how long you have to walk and the shortest route to do so. Some of your walk will be on a gravel path, which can be hard on the feet. Reddit users advised that there may be pedicabs around to take you to the stadium.
What about using rideshare services like Uber or Lyft to get to or from Levi’s Stadium?
We should note that Reddit users actually recommended against using rideshares, saying that the wait time for one is long and expensive. However, if you are planning on getting an Uber or Lyft, you should be dropped off for the show “curbside on Great America Parkway, between Tasman Drive and Old Glory Lane,” according to the Levi’s Stadium website.
And if you are taking a rideshare out of the stadium after the show ends, exit Gates A, B or F to get picked up at Red Lot 7. (Due to surge pricing, it will likely be expensive to get an Uber out the stadium.)
I’m dropping off and picking up somebody. Where should I go?
Levi’s Stadium has pickup and drop-off locations on their site for different types of vehicles. For Taylor Swift’s recent Eras Tour at the same venue, officials at Levi’s Stadium provided a Special Parent Pick-Up zone, located on Great America Parkway by Tasman Drive and Old Glory Lane for drop-off and then on Patrick Henry Drive for pickup. We’ll update this guide when more details are released for the Renaissance Tour.
Accessible drop-off, with wheelchair assistance available, is at Patrick Henry Drive and Great America Parkway. Accessible pick-up is at Red Lot 7. Guests can head to Gate C’s mobility services to get transportation to Red Lot 7
How to take public transit to the Beyoncé concert
Public transit schedules can always be subject to change. Check the timings for your route on the day of the show itself, and be sure of your very last service home.
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail and bus
KQED staffers highly recommend taking the VTA light rail to the venue itself. And if you’re taking a connecting transit service to VTA, keep reading for details of timings and additional services.
![](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/VTA-map.jpg)
There is a VTA stop on the North side of the stadium, called the Great America Station. Routers are “scheduled daily to and from Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, San José, Santa Clara, and Campbell.” See the VTA schedule.
You can schedule this journey out on the VTA’s site by toggling to the “Trip Planner” tab.
According to the VTA, there will be 30% more passenger capacity for the night. The release said that the VTA, BART and Caltrain will be in communication to prevent fans from being stranded.
“Extra service to the stadium will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, throughout the light rail system. Extra bus service will be on standby to supplement light rail if needed. After the concert, VTA will run light rail trains continuously until all passengers are cleared from the Great America light rail station,” the release reads.
“Passengers connecting to BART should take the VTA Orange Line to the Milpitas Transit Center no later than 11:15 p.m. to make their connection to BART’s last regular service leaving at 11:51 p.m. In addition, BART will run two limited stop trains from Milpitas at 12:30 a.m. and will serve only the following East Bay stations: Bay Fair, MacArthur, Pleasant Hill, and El Cerrito del Norte.”
For the Taylor Swift Eras tour last month, VTA’s spokesperson recommended people driving to the Milpitas Transit Center to pay for parking permits online or by using the app. Get more information on parking at Silicon Valley BART stations. The Clipper mobile app is also useful for easier VTA light rail payment.
The VTA offers accessible cart or wheelchair services from the Great America station to the Stadium’s west gate. To book these services ahead of time, call (408) 579-4610.
The VTA bus reaches the greater San José area, Mountain View, Cupertino and Sunnyvale (see the VTA bus schedule). The buses will drop you off at either the intersection of Tasman Drive and Great America Parkway or the intersection of Tasman Drive and Calle Del Sol. Please note that accessible cart services are not available for the latter.
BART
For the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, BART’s website advised fans to transfer from BART at Milpitas Station to VTA’s Orange Line and ride to VTA’s Great America Station, located on the north side of Levi’s Stadium.
There will be special services after midnight for the concert, according to BART’s spokesperson. You can view BART’s guide to transportation for the Renaissance concert on its website. Be sure to view what times the trains leave Levi’s Stadium the day of the concert.
![BART map for the Beyoncé concert](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/BeyonceEvent-Rider-Guide-2023_Getting-To_0-800x800.png)
Caltrain
You can also take Caltrain to the show, but will need to connect with the VTA light rail. You can get a double Caltrain pass here.
According to the VTA’s email, “Caltrain connections in Mountain View will run up to 75 minutes after the concert ends.”
Capitol Corridor train
Capitol Corridor is offering special hours for the Beyoncé show. The Westbound Train 543 will arrive at Levi’s Stadium at 5:05 p.m. Eastbound Train 550 will depart the station at 11:59 p.m.
“Ticketed passengers should give themselves at least 15 minutes to get to the station after the concert,” the release reads. “For the return trip, please make your way close to the exit doors prior to the arrival at the next station. Trains do not remain in the station for long, so you will need to be ready to offboard upon arrival at your destination.”
If you are a regular user of the train, Capitol Corridor’s news release advises people to take an early train to avoid crowds on Trains 541 and 543.
“Train 548 is CANCELLED. Passengers are advised to take Train 546 or earlier trains if you have flexibility in your schedule,” the release reads.
ACE train
You can use the ACE train to travel to Santa Clara from Stockton, Lathrop/Manteca, Tracy, Vasco, Livermore, Pleasanton and Fremont.
Biking
Not quite public transportation, but there are also bike valets from the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (who are looking for volunteers). However, as one Reddit user informed us, the bike trail is often closed during busy events like game days so don’t assume you’ll be able to use this trail to reach Levi’s Stadium on the nights of the shows.
Bike parking opens at 3 p.m. and is located at Dignity Health Gate.
Private shuttle
You could consider looking into a private ride or shuttle to and from Levi’s Stadium, especially if there’s a large group of you going.
Private M Ride round-trip shuttles are offered to Levi’s Stadium from Westwood, a venue in San Francisco.
Prepare for a super-crowded stadium experience
Beyoncé’s Renaissance show at FedEx Field in Maryland saw large crowds pushed together when fans were asked to shelter in place after lightning was reported in the area, with ABC7 News reporting that some fans had to be treated for heat exhaustion.
There’s no shame in getting a little antsy in big crowds like this — in a packed stadium, it’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed. Read NPR’s full guide on what to do if you find yourself caught in a crowd crush.
According to Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior, rely on your instincts and senses if you feel like the crowd is getting too dense. If you get stuck in a crush, move with the crowd and put your arms out in front of your chest and hold them there.
“In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing,” Moussaïd told NPR in 2022. “It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive.”
What to know about using the bathroom at the Beyoncé show
You can find all of the bathroom locations at Levi’s Stadium here.
Try to head to the bathroom before the show, but one KQED staffer recommended that you also sift through the playlist and see if there is a song you may be comfortable ducking out of to run to the restroom.
Can I still get a ticket for Beyoncé at Levi’s Stadium?
Tickets for Beyoncé’s Santa Clara Renaissance show are still being offered on Ticketmaster, which is the most official way to secure your seat at the Beyoncé show. You can also find Renaissance resales on sites like StubHub. You can also look for better deals and seats on Facebook marketplace resales and Eventbrite.
Walk-up tickets may also be available at the Visa Box Office.
The Better Businesses Bureau (BBB) issued a warning about resale scams during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, with many people discovering after sending the money through apps like Venmo or Zelle that these “tickets” never existed. Check out the person’s profile and their past posting history to see if it seems real. And if you do choose to buy a resale, use your credit card, says the BBB. This at least provides some protection for you if the deal was fake.
If you are getting a resale from a friend, make sure you call your friend directly — to make sure someone isn’t impersonating them online.
Can I tailgate at Levi’s Stadium if I didn’t get tickets?
Levi’s is an open stadium, and many on social media report that the noise leaks out if you’re nearby. But a Levi’s Stadium spokesperson wrote to KQED in an email that tailgating is not permitted (as per its policy on all concerts.)
Tasman Drive “will be closed starting at 9:30am on 8/30. This is the same policy we use for any weekday event at the stadium,” the spokesperson wrote.
The question of tailgating caused some back-and-forth during the Taylor Swift concert last month. Levi’s Stadium usually allows tailgating for football games for ticketed fans, as long as the party is wrapped up by kick-off. But Levi’s — in an email to KQED as well as a notice addressing tailgating on its website on July 26 — heavily discouraged fans without tickets from showing up during the Eras tour.
A spokesperson told KQED in an email, “Tailgating is prohibited for the Taylor Swift concerts and there will be no designated viewing areas outside of Levi’s Stadium. Fans without event tickets will not be allowed to enter stadium parking lots, and should not plan to gather outside the stadium.” Levi’s Stadium’s security information confirmed this seeming ban on tailgating on its website.
Santa Clara Councilmember Kathy Watanabe criticized the stadium for the move. However, Levi’s Stadium then removed its strict notice on tailgating from its Eras Tour release, and issued a more subdued tweet asking fans to just avoid overcrowding the surrounding areas of the stadium. (Fans did end up showing up.)
Parking lot parties aren’t a new phenomenon — especially at Levi’s Stadium. In 2015, Grateful Dead fans gathered in the shared lot with the Great America amusement park (and even caught a few rides.)
So whatever you do — just make sure to stay quiet during the mute challenge.
The ‘Bey’ Area — aka, the Beyoncé events to attend whether you got a ticket or not
(Yes, we know “Bey” doesn’t rhyme with Bay.)
Celebrate the Bay Area’s own Black queer history (whether you got a Renaissance ticket or not)
Beyoncé’s Renaissance is, above all else, a tribute to Black queer and trans music history and the ballroom scene. The record is dedicated to her Uncle Johnny, who Beyoncé said introduced her to the music that inspired the album.