Austin Annual Festivals, Austin Music Festivals And Austin Events

What began with a handful of vendors in the Armadillo World Headquarters music venue on a rainy Saturday afternoon in 1976 has grown into a seasonal celebration of Austin’s unique arts and music community and become an annual holiday event for many Austinites. The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar features over 160 artists and artisans vending a wide variety and price range of gifts, live music and a full bar. This year's 37th Armadillo Christmas Bazaar will take place at Palmar Events Center, just across the street from it's original location at South First and Barton Springs at the now long-gone Armadillo World Headquarters. Open all the way up to 11 PM on Christmas Eve, the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar is a favorite of last minute Austin shoppers. Children under the age of 12 are admitted free with parent. The dates for the 2012 Armadillo Christmas Bazaar are Wednesday, December 12 through Monday, December 24, 2012.

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 dates for the 2012 Art Outside music and art festival are Friday, October 19 through Sunday, October 21, 2012.

The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival began in 1990 as a small contest with a few spectators and has grown over the years into the world's largest hot sauce festival and judging contest. The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival attracts as many as 15,000 spectators and more than 350 entries every year and is a major fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank based in Austin, Texas. The 2011 Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival raised over $17,000 and almost 19,000 lbs. of food. The 2012 Hot Sauce Festival took take place at Fiesta Gardens on the East side of Austin at 2100 Jesse E. Segovia Street instead of the usual location at Waterloo Park due to renovations being undertaken at Waterloo Park. Entry to the festival is free with a donation of three healthy, nonperishable food items or a cash donation to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. Besides free hot sauce samples and food vendors, the Festival also features music from local Austin musicians. The date for the 2013 Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is to be announced.

The dates for the 2012 Austin Comic Con are Friday October 26, Saturday October 27 and Sunday October 28, 2012.Austin Comic Con is one of the annual three day pop culture conventions produced by online publication Wizard World Digital showcasing graphic novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, toys and social networking. Austin Comic Con features costume contest, celebrity appearances including actors, artists and writers, autograph booths, vendors and special exhibits. The 2012 Austin Comic Con features a 25th reunion appearance of cast members from Star Trek: The Next Generation including Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard); LeVar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge); Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi); Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data);Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher); Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker); and Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Worf). Other celebrity appearances at the 2012 Austin Comic Con include Dean Cain (Superman); Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk); CM Punk (WWE Superstar); Anthony Michael Hall (Batman); James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Torchwood); Paul McGillion (Stargate: Atlantis, Star Trek; The X-Files); Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints); David Della Rocco (The Boondock Saints); Norman Reedus (Boondock Saints); Kai Owen (Torchwood); Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who); Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel); Sofia Milos (CSI: Miami, The Sopranos); Eve Myles (Doctor Who, Torchwood); and Craig Parker (The Lord of the Rings).

The Austin Ice Cream Festival raises money for local charities such as the Austin Children's Shelter and the Young Womens Alliance. This dog friendly and kid friendly event features games, activities, contests and live entertainment and free ice cream samples. Prizes are awarded in the homemade ice cream making contest, ice cream eating contest and popsicle stick sculpture contest. The date for the 2012 Austin Ice Cream Festival was Saturday, August 4, 2012. The tentative date for the 2013 and seventh annual Austin Ice Cream Festival is Saturday, August 3, 2013.

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 2012 Annual Austin Museum Day is scheduled for Sunday, September 23, 2012.

Sponsored by the Austin Independent School District, the Annual Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival is the the nation's largest annual school event and largest American Indian annual gathering in Texas. Hundreds of Native American Indian dancers, singers and drummers gather each year in Austin on the first Saturday in November to celebrate American Indian culture. Dancers of all ages in full American Indian regalia compete for prize money and vendors sell traditional American Indian cuisine, including buffalo stew and roasted corn, and wares such as jewelry and pottery. The annual Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival always takes place on the first Saturday in November and admission is free. The date for the 2012 Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival is Saturday, November 3, 2012.

Austin Reggae Festival began as the Bob Marley Fest in 1994 and is an annual Austin event benefiting the Capital Area Food Bank. In 2012, the Austin Reggae Festival raised over $200,000 to help feed hungry people and families in Central Texas. Austin Reggae Fest features live world music from internationally known bands with food, arts and crafts vendors and takes place at Auditorium Shores alongside Lady Bird (Town Lake) in downtown Austin. The dates for the three day 2013 Austin Reggae Festival are Friday April 19, Saturday April 20 and Sunday April 21, 2013.

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.

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 Congress Avenue Bridge. Featuring arts and crafts, music, food, bat watching, children's activities and education display. the Batfest is ponsored by the City of Austin and admission is free. The 2012 Batfest includes live music from ten bands on two stages, more than 75 arts and crafts vendors and a bat costume contest. The live bats generally emerge from under the bridge at around dusk between 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM and the emerging flight can last for up to 30 minutes. The date for the 2012 Batfest and Night of the Bat was Saturday, August 25, 2012. The date for the 2013 Batfest and Night of the Bat is to be announced.

For over 35 years, the Austin American Statesman Capitol 10,000 Run and Walk has attracted not only the silly in crazy costumes, but wheelchair athletes and serious runners. The Statesman Capitol 10,000 is the largest 10K in Texas and the fifth largest in the nation. This is a fun, festive athletic event suitable for the entire family and has become an annual rite of spring in Austin. The running event includes the Statesman Cap 10K (Timed); Statesman Cap 10K - Fun Run & Walk (Untimed); Statesman Cap 10K Youth For 8 Years Old And Under (Timed) and Statesman Cap 10K Youth For 8 Years Old And Under Fun Run And Walk (Untimed). Only timed runners are eligible for awards. Registration takes place online, by US mail, or in-person Cap 10K Health And Fitness Expo at the Austin Convention Center on the Friday and Saturday before the race. The date for the 2013 Statesman Capitol 10,000 is Sunday, April 7, 2013.

Central Texas Paranormal Conference brings together speakers, researchers, panels and vendors related to ghosts and other paranormal phenomena with vendor booths, raffles, para-celebrity speakers, paranormal seminars and on site paranormal investigations. The dates for the 2012 Central Texas Paranormal Conference are Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, 2012. Guest speakers for 2012 include Britt Griffith, cast member of the SyFy show Ghost Hunters; Josh Gates, star of the SyFy show Destination Truth; and the Klinge Brothers, Brad and Barry, founders of Everyday Paranormal and stars of the upcoming show The Dead Truth.

Chuy's Children Giving To Children Christmas Parade is an annual Austin holiday toy drive that takes place on the Saturday morning following Thanksgiving. The inspiration of Chuy's Mexican Food restaurant co-owner Mike Young, the first Chuy's Children Giving To Children Christmas Parade took place in 1989 with Chuy's friends and employees riding alongside Austin musician Marcia Ball on a flat bed trailer and has grown into an yearly Austin family tradition. The Chuy's Children Giving To Children Christmas Parade benefits Operation Blue Santa, a non-profit organized by the Austin Police Department with support from the Texas National Guard, the Austin Fire Department, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and Austin Energy to provide needy Austin families with a full holiday meal and wrapped Christmas gifts for each child under age 14. The parade begins at 11 AM and lasts for approximately an hour and a half beginning at the south side of the State Captiol, proceeding south down Congress Avenue and ending at the Congress bridge. The parade features giant inflatable balloons, festive holiday floats, famous children's characters, live music and dancing, marching bands, classic cars and of course a real Santa Claus. At a designated time during the parade procession, all units stop to collect unwrapped toys brought to the parade by the parade spectators. The date for the 2012 Chuy's Children Giving To Children Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 1, 2012.

In 1963, UT English professor Lloyd Birdwell Jr. started a Winnie the Pooh-inspired picnic dubbed Eeyore's Birthday as a springtime party for his students before final exams. Eeyore's Birthday Party has since become an Austin tradition and is held the last Saturday in April every year at Pease Park, with costume contests, relay races, face painting, and other events for adults and children, including drum circles that spontaneously form across Pease Park. Admission is free. Eeyore's Birthday Party is sponsored by a nonprofit officially called the Friends of Forest which raises money through beer sales, T-shirts and temporary tattoos. Food stands are operated by other local nonprofits and staffed by volunteer crews. The date for the 2013 Eeyore's Birthday Party is April 27, 2013 and will be the 50th annual free party in Pease Park.

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, thedates for the 2012 Fantastic Film Festival are September 20 through September 27, 2012.

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 Free Day of Yoga in Austin kicks off with an opening festival on Sunday, September 2nd, 2012 at Whole Foods Market on 525 N. Lamar featuring gift bag,vendors, a giveaway drawing and free classes for the whole family. The date for the 2011 Free Day of Yoga in Austin is Labor Day, Monday, September 3, 2012.

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.

For over ten years, this annual event has celebrated what makes Austin special. The Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K includes music, costumes, vendors and what is unofficially known as “the slowest 5K you’ll ever run” as most participants run, skip or race three-legged through the streets of downtown Austin wearing wacky costumes. The music begins in the afternoon and the Keep Austin Weird race begins in the evening. The weirdest costume in the race wins a cash prize. Proceeds from the Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K benefit the Austin Parks Foundation, a non profit working towards improving and maintaining the natural beauty of Austin including ecological restoration and the development of new walking trails. The date for the 2013 Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2013.

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 dates for the 2012 Fall Old Pecan Street Festival are Saturday September 29 and Sunday September 30, 2012. The dates for the 2013 Spring Old Pecan Street Festival are Saturday May 4 and and Saturday May 5, 2013.

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

SXSW Interactive is a five day conference featuring presentations on cutting-edge and emerging technologies, networking events hosted by industry leaders and showcases of  new websites, video games and startup ideas. SXSW Interactive primarily takes place at the Austin Convention Center with related events all over the downtown Austin area. SXSW Interactive has a reputation as a launching pad for new ideas and creative technologies and is credited with being a part of the success of Twitter in 2007 and Four Square in 2009. Past speakers at SXSW Interactive include Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. The dates for South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival is scheduled for Friday, March 7 through Tuesday, March 11, 2014. Registration will open in early August of 2014.Hotels in the downtown Austin area that are designated as official SXSW hotels require all SXSW reservations to be booked through the SXSW Interactive Conference and Festival.

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 dates for the 2012 St. Elias Mediterranean Festival at the St. Elias Church are Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2012.

The dates for the 2012 Texas Book Festival at the Texas State Capital Building and Capital grounds are Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28, 2012. The Texas Book Festival was created in 1996 under the guidance of then Texas First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian who has made it one of her life’s missions to promote literacy and the love of reading. The goal of the Texas Book Festival is to honor Texas authors and to benefit public libraries in the State of Texas. The Texas Book Festival hosts more than 200 Texas and nationally known authors every Fall and more than 40,000 visitors enjoy author readings and presentations, panel discussions, book signings, activities for children and musical entertainment at the State Capitol in Austin as well as in other venue locations around downtown Austin including the Paramount Theatre and United Methodist Church. The Texas Book Festival is free and open to the public.