Once a year there is a big musical stirring in Austin, Texas! The city is gearing up for the Austin City Limits Festival!
This isn’t just any old festival. ACL is the reason why Austin is also known as the live music capital of the world. The Austin City Limits Festival is the live embodiment of that title that Austin carries so proudly!
It isn’t any old musician that plays at ACL either. Over the years, many well-known and legendary bands and artists have played there. These include, among many others, people like The Eagles, Dave Matthews Band, Van Morrison, Keith Urban, Elvis Costello, and of course Austin’s own musical legend, Willie Nelson.
ACL has become so popular that the city voted to extend it to two consecutive weekends in 2013.
When & Where Is Austin City Limits Festival?
ACL is held each year in the late Summer or early Fall, i.e. either September or October. I don’t think anyone would survive if it was held in the middle of Summer. As was seen in 2013, the Fall can bring rain, but generally the weather is just great!
The venue has always been Zilker Park, on the south side of Lady Bird Lake. That means plenty of open space. But this is also near downtown Austin, so parking can be limited. Don’t let that make you miss out though!
What Makes The ACL Festival So Great?
First of all, plenty of great music! Different types of music too… There are 8 stages with more than 150 bands playing country, indie, rock, and more.
There is plenty of food too, ranging from burgers to pizza to Mexican, Greek, sandwiches, BBQ, and much more. So you won’t go hungry!
Right in the middle of Zilker Park is the ACL Art Market with all kinds of things for sale from local artists.
My kids are a little older now, but if you have younger kids, each day between 11 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. is the Austin Kiddie Limits. This is great entertainment for the young ‘uns with all kinds of cool activities.
Other Things You Need To Know About ACL
You can take things like blankets, chairs, umbrellas, baby strollers, a soft-sided cooler and so on with you. But don’t take food or alcohol, or glass containers, bicycles, skateboards, and obviously explosives or weapons. Video cameras are not allowed either. There’s a long list of stuff that you can and can’t take along on the ACL website.
While some vendors accept credit cards, not all do, so take cash with you. Luckily there are plenty of ATMs around if you need extra cash.
There is no parking at Zilker Park during the Austin City Limits Festival, but there are plenty of other options to get there. Lots of people take the shuttle buses that run from the corner of 4th & Guadalupe street and drop you off at the festival.
I can only try to describe the Austin City Limits Festival to you, but words can’t do it justice. If you really want to know what it is about, you have to experience it yourself.
So, if you have plans to be in Austin around October, plan to attend at least one day of Austin City Limits Festival. You’ll love all the bands, food, art, and all the people having a good time!
PS. You can also read on TripAdvisor what others thought of Austin City Limits.
Have you been to the Austin City Limits Festival before? Tell us about it in the comments…