I've been to every Austin City Limits music festival other than the first one and have had every type of ticket/wristband/badge. Lots of my friends ask for tips I thought I'd write them up to help my friends be the most comfortable and have the most fun next weekend!
Here is a cool widget from the ACL website that show the bands I'm most excited about:
How should I dress?
ACL is notoriously hot and can be "dry and dusty" like 3 years ago or "rainy and muddy" like last year, but I think that this year the forecast couldn't be better! No rain in sight and highs of 90 degrees. For those of you coming in from out of town that might sound hot, but 90 degrees is a cool day in Austin! ACL is normally at the beginning of September, but this year its at the end, and I think its going to make for the best weather yet.
That said its still hot, so the basics are:
- T-shirt (thin)
- Shorts
- Sneakers or sandals
- Hat or other head covering
What else should I bring?
- Sunscreen
- Backpack (optional)
- Folding chair (see below)
- Water bottle
- Snacks
Where is the best place to park?
If you are staying at a hotel downtown, there should be free shuttles to take you down to the festival and back each day. Depending on how close you are, you might consider walking.
If you're driving to the event early in the day, I would try to find a spot to park on grass around the intersection of Mopac and Barton Springs or somewhere in Bouldin (the neighborhood next to Barton Springs Road). If you're coming later in the day, you're probably going to be stuck with parking downtown near Republic Square Park and then taking a shuttle to the event.
Parking is the number one reason to get VIP tickets. If you buy four VIP tickets, you get a VIP parking pass which lets you park in Zilker park just across Barton Springs Road from the festival. That's where I'll be parking!
What about food and drink?
They actually have pretty good food there and its not that expensive. I usually bring a couple granola bars and snacks to keep in my bag but I don't have any trouble finding stuff to eat inside the festival. You can also run out to Barton Springs and grab something at Chuy's or Shady Grove, but you're going to waste a lot of time getting in and out of the park and waiting for a table, so its probably not worth it.
If you have access to the VIP Grove, they serve good food and drinks there for free.
Should I bring a folding chair?
I go back and forth on this. It's really nice to have one to sit on because even with a blanket I get sick of sitting on the ground all day. But it's also a pain to carry it around.
So here is what I recommend:
- Do not take a chair on Friday. You've got plenty of energy and your butt isn't sore yet. Run around and have fun.
- Take a chair on Saturday. It's a long day, and you're probably a bit tired from Friday.
- See how you feel on Sunday and take a chair if you want to.
How long should I plan on staying?
I always get this idea that I'm going to spend the whole day there, but its really hard to do. It's hot and loud and you're partying the whole time. So I either try to go right when it opens at noon for 3-4 hours, go home for a nap, cool off, and an early dinner, and then head back around 6pm for the rest of the evening. Alternatively, I show up around 4pm or 5pm and stay until close to the end.
The big name shows are always the last ones of the night. They are attended by about 50,000 people so its crowded and hard to get close to the stage. The sound isn't that great and you can't see very well because you're so far away. And then when its over there is a massive bottleneck getting all the people, cars, and buses out of the park. Consequently, I'll often leave right before the last show and miss the headliner. I'm really there to discover new bands anyway!
What is the deal with the VIP tickets?
VIP tickets get you the following benefits:
- VIP parking within walking distance of the festival
- Bypass lines to get into the festival
- Relax in the shady VIP Grove
- Free food and drinks in the VIP Grove
- Air conditioned bathrooms in the VIP Grove
VIP tickets do not get you backstage access.
How do I get backstage?
To get backstage, either you need an All Access badge (almost impossible unless you work for C3) or you need to be on the guest list for one of the sponsors of a specific stage - AT&T, Austin Ventures, Dell or AMD. Each stage has a separate guest list. Each backstage area is like a mini VIP Grove with food, drinks, shade, and air conditioned bathrooms. If you can get backstage it is the best place to be for sure.
How do I get into the Artist's Grove?
Start a band?
Where is the best place to chill out if I get too hot?
My favorite place to go cool off is the WaMu stage because its a big tent that's shady and its near the food.
How early do I need to get to a stage in order to get a good spot?
For most shows, 30 minutes early. For a big name show, you should get there right when the previous show ends and camp out.
What's the best way to coordinate a large group?
Get one of those flagpole things with a balloon or other noticeable, obnoxious thing at the top of it. Camp out in front of the AT&T stage with a bunch of blankets and folding chairs and claim your territory. Make sure one person stays at "base" at all times and use that as the rallying point for excursions to other stages.
What about the aftershows?
There are plenty of good ones, but its all the same bands playing at the festival. By the time the festival ends, I'm usually tired and don't have the energy for an aftershow. I usually skip the aftershows and focus on making the most of the festival itself.
What about ACL TV show tapings during the festival?
It's pretty common that bands who are in for the festival stop by the TV studio and do a recording as well. This year, it will be Manu Chao, Erika Badu, Gnarls Barclay, The Swell Season and Foo Fighters. Erika, Gnarls and Swell are all during the festival itself so you need to pick which you will see. When its really hot, it can be nice to leave the festival and go watch a taping in the air conditioning - but this year I think I'm going to be at the festival the whole time and will just attend the Foo Fighters taping on Monday night.
What's your strategy?
I find that it is best to bounce back and forth between two stages, such as AT&T and Dell (area 1 below) or AMD and Blue Room (area 2 below). Sometimes you can just sit in between the two of them and just turn your chairs around as each new show starts. I usually end up rotating between Dell, AT&T, WaMu and the food area.
How can I learn about bands I don't know?
The best part of ACL is the bands you didn't know about already that you find. The best way to get familiar is to listen to the ACL radio station on Pandora. They are playing music from all the artists so its a great way to get familiar this week. It's linked from the bottom left of this page.
What other questions do you have? Ask in the comments below and I'll try to get answers for you.
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Posted by: Matthaios | September 23, 2010 at 05:59 AM
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Posted by: michael | September 24, 2008 at 05:30 PM
this was so helpful, thank you! how much are you charging to park at you rental house?
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