Austin: Events

Austin hosts a helluva lot of hoedowns every year, most of them musical. Kicking off the season is South by Southwest (SXSW), an internationally renowned music, film and multimedia conference that packs the city - and its every venue - in March. A couple of events are free, but for most you'll need a music badge, and even then entry is subject to capacity controls.

Also in March is local good ol' boy Jerry Jeff Walker's Birthday Celebration, featuring three days of dancing and rodeos and a Saturday night serenade by JJ himself. Soon after, the Old Settlers Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival and the Downtown Conjunto Festival get the city's toes tapping again to more traditional beats. Two celebrations in June - the Green Mesquite Rhythm & Blues Festival and the Clarksville/West End Jazz & Arts Festival - honor the talent of local musicians. Austin City Limits music festival takes over Zilker Park Woodstock-style for three days in September.

Apart from the mostly-music festivals, Austin celebrates itself and its culture with several major events both whimsical and sincere. Spamarama in late March honors the oft-maligned tinned meat, while the real stuff takes the spotlight in the Austin-Travis County Livestock Show & Rodeo - the BBQ competition is not to be missed. Concurrently, the Texas Hill Food and Wine Festival gets gastronomic guts a-rumble until early April. In mid-May, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated con mucho gusto at Fiesta Gardens, while Fiesta Laguna Gloria entwines arts and crafts displays with a Mexican fiesta. The 4th of July is celebrated as the Freedom Festival in Austin, with live music, lots of food and a rocking fireworks display in Zilker Park.

Halloween ushers in a mad block party along 6th St, though the next day's Día de los Muertos celebrations are a whole lot spookier. There's a big-deal Thanksgiving Day football game between UT and Texas A&M, as well as the standard slew of Christmas-season revelries.