ACL Festival, aka, Austin City Limits Music Festival, has been a concert festival since 2002 in the beautiful Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The festival is two three-day weekends long in October, with eight stages and over 140 bands of many genres like electronica, rock, indie, hip-hop, and more, and attracts about 75,000 people per day!

In order to fully enjoy yourself, it’s important to hydrate, stay safe, plan ahead, hydrate, and HAVE FUN… oh and HYDRATE! [I include more tips at the end]

If you’re visiting here for ACL, you might not be staying in the park the entire time and might want to venture out and explore Austin (which I absolutely encourage!)

Before The Festival

Grab Some Breakfast Tacos at Tacodeli [$] - 1500 Spyglass Dr, Austin, TX 78746 Website

Or Coffee and Breakfast Sandwiches at Better Half Coffee & Cocktails [$$] - 406 Walsh St, Austin, TX 78703 Website

During The Festival

(Places near Zilker Park to Explore)

Things To Do

Barton Springs Municipal Pool to take a cold dip.

Zilker Park Boat Rentals for Kayaks on Town Lake

Classic Peter Pan Mini Golf - (1207 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704)

Waterloo Records & Video - Giant, Historical, Record Store from 1982 (600A N. Lamar, Austin, TX 78703)

Go and watch the 1.5 million bats fly out from the Congress Avenue Bridge - More Info Here!

Foods Near Zilker

Four Brothers ATX [$] - Incredible Venezuelan food truck walking distance (1720 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704) Website

Shady Grove [$$] - Tex Mex and burgers (1624 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704) Website

P. Terry’s Burger Stand [$] - Early morning to late night lowkey drive-thru burger joint that brags all-natural beef burgers which are delicious (404 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704) Website

Uncle Billy’s Brewery & Smokehouse [$$] - BBQ and beers (1530 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704) Website

Juliet Italian Kitchen [$$$] - Wonderful Italian Food, Beautiful Patio (1500 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704) Website

High Note [$$] - Modern American Restaurant with Healthy Eats and Creative Cocktails (300 S Lamar Blvd Suite A, Austin, TX 78704) Website

Whole Foods Market Flagship - (525 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703) Website

El Arroyo [$] - Mexican food with its famous quirky sign outside that changes daily (1624 W 5th St, Austin, TX 78703) Website

Home Slice [$] - Pizza joint but trust me and get a cold sandwich, it’s the best in Austin. Their salads are incredible too… or just grab a slice, you won’t be disappointed! (1415 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704) Website

After The Festival

Go Out For Drinks On The Town

Warehouse District is a district full of classy, upscale, cocktail bars which seems to attract a trendy bunch of mid-20s to 40s crowd. 

• DuMont’s Down Low - Basement Bourbon Bar (214 W 4th St Suite B, Austin, TX 78701) Website

• The Roosevelt Room - Fancy Cocktail Bar with Drinks from All Decades (307 W 5th St, Austin, TX 78701) Website

• Firehouse Lounge Speakeasy [$$] - 605 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701 Website

• Fareground Food Hall [$$] and Bar Ellis - 111 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701 Website

Rainey Street is a district full of different types of bars located inside cottages side by side. This area seems to attract a crowd of mid-20s to 30s, not a super rowdy bunch. 

• Lustre Pearl Rainey [$$] - Bar with downtown views and games to entertain (94 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701) Website

• Half Step [$$] - Cocktail bar, cozy vibes and the best mini donuts served out of a trailer in front (Little Lucy’s Mini Donuts) - (75 1/2 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701) Website

• Container Bar [$$] - It is what it sounds like, a bar made out of shipping containers! Dancing and shenanigans usually occur here. (90 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701) Website

Dirty Sixth Street is the strip of East Sixth Street full of dirty bars that attract a college aged group. This is the best place for cheap shots and some low-key music venues.

• Midnight Cowboy [$$] - This is a reservations only, intimate bar that isn’t the typical Dirty Sixth Street bar. (313 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701)

• Recess Arcade Bar [$] - Popular bar with old school video games and snacks (222 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701)

• B.D.’s Irish Pub Downtown [$$] - Irish pub with upscale menu with live music (204 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701)

Late Night Food

• Kerbey Lane [$] is open 24/7 and has locations all over Austin, plus, their queso is amazing! Website

• 24 Diner [$] is a hotspot late at night and boast about their chicken and waffles. (600 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703) Website

• Whataburger [$] is a classic Texas fast food burger 24/7 burger joint with delicious burgers and breakfast. Website

Other Exploration Ideas

• Check out our highest point at Mt Bonnell with the view of our beautiful topography (3800 Mount Bonnell Rd; Austin, Texas 78731)

• Visit the Texas State Capitol (from 7am to 10pm on weekdays and 9am to 8pm on weekends) to get a sense of our incredible history. (1100 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701)

• Uncommon Objects - a store full of super interesting, eclectic, antiques (1602 Fortview Rd, Austin, TX 78704)

Lastly, to cover some tips to thoroughly enjoy your weekend:

• Bring a CamelBak or some sort of apparatus to easily hold your water during the festival. Even in the line waiting to get in the venue, have water to drink!

• Be mindful at all times of where your phone and wallet are, thieves love to prey on the unaware. Don’t set your stuff down for photos, dancing, or any other opportunities to be stolen. 

• Activate your wristband! When you activate your wristband, use any major credit or debit card to sign up for ACL Cashless, presented by American Express. ACL Cashless allows you to pay for drinks, food, merch and more with the tap of a wrist when you’re at the festival.

• ALL bags will be searched before entry. Bags will be restricted to small purses, totes and drawstring bags only. Bag size may not exceed 14” x 11” x 5” (35cm x 28cm x 12cm), or 30 linear inches (75cm) in total, and must have no more than one singular pocket or opening. Backpacks and bags with multiple pockets are prohibited. Hydration packs are allowed but must be emptied of all liquid and have no more than two pockets in addition to the one holding the water reservoir. (www.aclfestival.com)

• Whenever possible, patrons should avoid arriving during peak hours from 3-5pm to ensure the quickest entry into the park.

• There’s food at the main ACL Eats area and at the south end of the park at the second ACL Eats location near the main merch store. Featured vendors include: Amy’s Ice Creams, Burro Grilled Cheese, GoodPop, Kababeque, Micklethwait Barbecue, mmmpanadas, Southside Flying Pizza and Wholly Cow Burgers.

• If you step away from your group by yourself, be sure to plan to meet at a certain spot because people all start to look alike out there! Stay SAFE and use landmarks (or flags) to find your group!

If you’ll be attending ACL this year, I hope you have a wonderful and safe time! If you are unsure of what to do while here, reach out to me (Bianca@ATXFYI.com or on my socials) about trip consulting. I offer Trip Assurance, which for a fee, you’ll have access to me, via text, in order to help you have your best trip to my favorite city, Austin! :)

Cheers!