weekend roundup

Music, outdoors and plenty of sun: Ways to celebrate Earth Day (spread out overa full weekend)

I wouldn't exactly classify myself as an "outdoors" kind of person, but when the weather is as perfect as it has been this week, even I can't help but find reasons to be outside as often as possible. And it's a great time to show your gratitude to this planet we share with six billion of our closest friends, as Sunday is Earth Day.

Earth Day is so much more than just learning which bottles to recycle and remembering to roll out the bin on Friday mornings. In Austin, it's about getting out, getting involved and learning how you can make a difference all year round. It helps a lot when it's a community effort, and this is a great time to meet your neighbors in a unified goal of saying thank you to Mama Earth.

All weekend, TreeHouse, Austin's conscious home improvement store, is offering free Earth Weekend classes and demonstrations on eco-friendly practices. Everything from water harvesting to gardening to chicken keeping, plus plenty of free samples to boot. No free food samples, unfortunately, but there will be food trucks on site both days to keep you satiated.

Make some noise as well at any one of this weekend's big music events. You've got the 25th Annual Old Settler's Music Festival celebrating Americana and bluegrass out at the Salt Lick's Driftwood Pavilion all weekend. If you can stand the smoke, there's the ultra laid back Austin Reggae Festival out at Auditorium Shores. And for the opposite experience, you can bring the whole family out to Pioneer Farms on Saturday to enjoy the family-friendly music of the Biscuit Brothers and others at the 6th Annual Austin Family Music Festival.

On Friday night only, ACL Live is hosting one of the most spectacular lineups ever to commemorate the music and legend of Johnny Cash. With performances by Kenny Chesney, Chris Cornell, Ronnie Dunn, Kris Kristofferson, Ray LaMontagne, Amy Lee, Lucinda Williams and Brandi Carlisle just to name A FEW, this show, entitled "We Walk the Line," is probably the hottest ticket in town for a good long while.

On Saturday, Whole Foods Markets will be leading the "Give 5% to Mother Earth" campaign to raise money for local eco-friendly businesses. This community-wide giving day means that a percentage of your purchases from participating retailers will go directly toward supporting efforts to clean up our environment and keep it that way. Take a look at the sponsors, businesses and beneficiaries on the event page and see how you can make your dollars make good eco sense.

On Sunday, the city's official Austin Earth Day Festival takes place at Mueller Park in East Austin. Mayor Lee Leffingwell will be one just one of the distinguished keynote speakers kicking off this day-long music and food and fun celebration of our green city. Interactive exhibits, live music, kids' activities, food trailers and so much more will make this festival one to remember.

Meanwhile, Be Yoga invites you out to Lady Bird Lake to help Love Our Lady. This organized clean-up team will help to beautify the popular exercise and recreation spot before heading back to their Rainey Street studio for a free guided yoga class from one of their instructors. It's a great way to show your appreciation for one of the city's natural wonders and maybe check out a new exercise community.

At the same time, Gusto Dogs will be circling Lady Bird Lake as well, in a charity walk for Austin Pets Alive! These community-minded dog-walking professionals invite you to join them as they circle the lake this Earth Day, raising much needed funds for the new intakes being housed at South Austin's fastest growing animal nonprofit.

And when you've been outside all weekend, sometimes it's good to take a break in the dark air conditioning of the Alamo Drafthouse. On Sunday afternoon, they're hosting a screening of an Earth Day special event with the documentary One Day on Earth. Shot in 190 countries across the globe, the film undertakes the enormous challenge of uniting viewers in all of these countries for one moment of global appreciation.

Of course, these are just a few ways you can make a joyful noise unto the Mother Earth that has put up with you all these years. Show her a little love in your own way. But, of course, take a little time to look around you and appreciate what you've got.

It could be a whole lot worse. You could be living in Cleveland...

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030