Austin Annual Festivals, Austin Music Festivals And Austin Events

Art Outside is family friendly avant-garde art and music event featuring artwork, multimedia, large scale art installations, yoga, aerial acrobatics, fire spinning, music and workshops along the banks of the San Gabriel River northeast of Austin, Texas. Workshops and camping are included with the price of admission. Art Outside began in 2005 at at the Enchanted Forest, a 3.5 acre plot of land at the corner of South Lamar Boulevard and Oltorf Street in the heart of Austin. Logistical problems with the City of Austin led to the event being moved to Apache Pass in 2009. Though Apache Pass Festival Grounds in Rockdale, Texas is approximately a 90 minute drive from Austin, Art Outside remains a quintessential union of the Austin music scene and the Austin art scene. Apache Pass Festival Grounds consists of hundreds of acres of grassy camping areas shaded by large pecan trees and access to the San Gabriel River. There are facilities for showering, bathrooms, potable water, communal commons and access to charging stations for electronic devices. The 2011 Art Outside music and art festival took place Friday, October 7 through Sunday, October 9. The 2012 dates are to be announced.

Austin Chocolate Festival is an annual vendor showcase and competition featuring local restaurants, bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, chocolate artisans, authors, and catering companies. Samples are available from vendors and competition participants. Competitions categories include best brownie, best mole, most creative dessert, best cookie, best frozen dessert and best truffle. Tickets are sold in two hour increments and each ticket holder receives entrance to the festival during the designated time slot, chocolate sample coupons and the ability to sample and vote in time slot specific chocolate competitions. A portion of proceeds benefit an Austin non-profit. The 2011 Austin Chocolate Festival is scheduled for October 15 and 16.

Set in downtown Austin Zilker Park, the Austin City Limits Music Festival is annual three-day music and art festival that has become one of the United States premier rock festivals. Approximately 130 bands on eight stages attract crowds of around 65,000 fans to listen to music including rock, country, folk, indie, Americana, hip-hop, reggae and bluegrass. Named after the public television show Austin City Limits produced at the KLRU studios at the University of Texas since 1977, C3 Presents licenses the “Austin City Limits” name for the annual festival. There is usually a brief and competitive pre-sale of discount price three-day passes about six months before the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The regular sale starts a few months later with gradual price increases as Austin City Limits Music Festival gets closer. Single day tickets go on sale about a month before Austin City Limits Music Festival. The best way to get tickets is to sign up for the ACL Fest email list for notifications on ticket sale dates and discounts. The 2012 Austin City Limits Music Festival is scheduled for October 12 through 14.

The Austin Ice Cream Festival raises money for local charities such as the Austin Children's Shelter and the Young Womens Alliance. The 2011 Austin Ice Cream Festival is scheduled for Saturday, August 13.

The Austin Museum Partnership is an organization of Austin-area museums collaborating for the mutual benefit of the public and the museums. The Austin Museum Partnership has sponsored a free, city wide Annual Austin Museum Day every year in Austin since 1998. Participating sites include art and science museums, historic sites, history museums, nature preserves, natural habitats, botanical gardens, the University of Texas library and art repositories, the LBJ Presidential library, a children's museum, a museum about Texas music, the Texas State Capitol. The 2011 Annual Austin Museum Day is scheduled for Sunday, September 25, 2011.

Austin Psych Fest is a annual music event in April featuring psychedelic, garage and experimental music. Psych Fest is produced by the members of Austin band the Black Angels and presents both contemporary and classic psychedelic rock. One past favorite at the Austin Psych Fest has been legendary sixties musician and Austin native Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators. Now in it's fifth year, the 2012 Austin Psych Fest will take place April 27 through April 29. The venue and performers for 2012 have not yet been released. The line up and tickets are scheduled to be released in November of 2011.

Taking place on the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, Batfest and Night of the Bat celebrates Austin's famous bat population. An estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats live under the bridge. Featuring arts and crafts, music, food, bat watching, children's activities and education display. Sponsored by the City of Austin, admission is free. The 2011 Batfest and Night of the Bat is scheduled for Saturday, August 27.

The 2011 Cherrywood Art Fair is scheduled for Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11.

The East Austin Studio Tour is a self guided tour of working art studios located east of I-35, west of 183, south of 51st Street and north of Town Lake. Begun in 2003 as a one day event with only twenty-eight studios, the East Austin Studio Tour is now a two day event with over 100 artists and studios participating. The East Austin Studio Tour usually takes place on a Saturday and Sunday in November. Look for the red numbered signs that mark all the studios. Maps are available from the studios and are also distributed around town in the weeks before the tour. Funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the East Austin Studio Tour is a unique opportunity to see the working spaces of artists and visit with the artists themselves. The 2011 East Austin Studio Tour is scheduled for November 12 through 20.

Searchable by date and type of event, the Events Calendar on the Austin Visitors Center website offers a comprehensive and extensive listing of events in Austin, including children and family events, culinary events, film festivals, holiday events, annual event, concerts and music events and theater and dance events.

Held each year at the Paramount Theater and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar, the Fantastic Fest is the largest single genre film festival in the United States. The Fantastic fest specializes in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and some of the strangest films from all over the world. Such films as “There Will Be Blood,” “Apocalypto,” and “Zombieland” have had their world premiers at the Fantastic Fest Film Festival in Austin. Celebrities making appearances in years past have included Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Dolph Lundgren, Jemaine Clement, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. Many new The world, national and regional premieres of many new fantasy genre films are presented each year at the Fantastic Fest, the majority at the Alamo Drafthouse, named by Entertainment Weekly one of the best cinemas in American. Food and beverages, including alcohol, are served during the movies at the Alamo Drafhouse without any intrusion into the movie experience. Named as one of the “25 coolest film festivals” and the “25 film festivals worth the entry fee” by Moviemaker Magazine, the 2011 Fantastic Film Festival is scheduled for September 22 through September 29.

The Free Day of Yoga in Austin is every Labor Day and has been held every year in Austin Texas since 1999. There are over 100 free yoga classes on the first Monday in September held from dawn to dusk at locations all over the city of Austin. Yoga teachers and studios say thank you to the Austin yoga community with this fun free thing to do in Austin once a year. It is also a way to introduce new students to yoga and different styles of yoga to current students. There is a listing of participating yoga teachers and locations published in the Austin Chronicle the Thursday before Labor Day. The 2011 Free Day of Yoga in Austin is scheduled for Monday, September 5.

The Heart O’ Texas Orchid Society was founded in 1961 and meets monthly at Zilker Botanical Garden Center on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 PM. The Heart O' Texas Orchid Society is open to anyone interested in orchids. A non-profit, educational organization, the Heart O’ Texas Orchid Society promotes the propagation, conservation and exhibition of orchids. The last weekend in April, the Orchid Society presents an exhibition and judging by the American Orchid Society of orchids from Austin area growers along with information about growing orchids and products from numerous gardening related vendors. Admission to the Orchid Show and Sale is free. The 41st Annual Orchid Show and Sale at the Austin Area Garden Center located in the Zilker Botanical Gardens is scheduled for the weekend of April 28 and 29, 2012.

Each May and June, tens of thousands of Austinites and visitors from all over the world make the two hour drive from Austin to converge at Quiet Valley Ranch in Kerrville for eighteen consecutive days of traditional folk, bluegrass, acoustic rock, blues, country, jazz, and Americana music. Founded by Rod Kennedy, the Kerrville Folk Festival has run annually since 1972 and is the longest continuously running music festival of its kind in North America. Many visitors camp at the ranch during the festival and almost all the staff are volunteers. One of the most unique aspects of the festival happens after the official shows when fans, volunteers and performers play music by the campfires, sometimes till dawn. The 2011 Kerville Folk Festival is scheduled for May 26 through June 12.

Taking place on a Saturday and Sunday in both the Spring (May) and the Fall (September) on East 6th Street in downtown Austin between Congress Avenue and IH-35, the Old Pecan Street Festival has been a family tradition event for more than thirty years featuring arts and crafts exhibitors, vendors, music and multicultural performers in the middle of Sixth Street in downtown Austin. Admission is free. Artisans from all over the United States display and sell homemade arts and crafts at this juried arts and crafts festival. Local musicians provide entertainment on five stages. Sponsored by the Pecan Street Merchants Association, the Old Pecan Street Festival selects several local non-profit organizations each year to benefit from proceeds. the Old Pecan Street Festival is the largest art festival in Central Texas attracting more than 300,000 per event. Pecan Street refers to original name of Sixth Street. When the street plan for downtown Austin was first laid out, north-south streets were given the names of Texas rivers in the order in which they appeared on the Texas map and the east-west streets were given the names of native trees. Years later, numbers replaced the tree-named streets and what was Pecan Street became today's 6th Street. The 2011 Fall Old Pecan Street Festival is scheduled for the weekend of September 24 and 25. The 2012 Springs Old Pecan Street Festival is scheduled for the weekend of May 6 and 7.

The 2011 Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally is scheduled for June 9 through June 12.

The 2012 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival is scheduled for March 9 through 13.

The 2012 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is scheduled for March 9 through 17.

The St. Elias Mediterranean Festival at the St. Elias Church has been an annual event in downtown Austin for eighty years. Generations of Austin families cook classic Lebanese, Greek and Middle Eastern specialties from scratch every year including hand-rolling thousands of grape leaves, mixing dozens of fresh batches of tabouleh, and baking baklava. This two day event includes live music, dancing, wine, cocktails, children's games and a festival marketplace with a GreekOrthodox Bazaar.

The 2011 Texas Book Festival is scheduled for October 22 and 23.