Weekend Roundup

Don't worry, there's still plenty to do besides ACL this weekend

The Amazing Acro-Cats
Photo by Jon Shapley
Ditch the Fest Fest erupts on the East Side
gAyCL rocks Cheer Up Charlie's
Jack Black stars in Richard Linklater's Bernie
Courtesy photo
MilkMilkLemonade plays at The Hideout
The New Movement debuts Mumbleoke

Sure, thousands of people from around the country are descending upon our beloved city in the next couple of days for ACL. And they'll clog up your freeways and favorite restaurants with their otherly-city ways for the weekend. They'll trash Zilker Park with their scrambling nomadic feet during their thrashing dance parties and trips in and out of the gates.

But while they're relatively contained in their musical bliss, you've got the rest of the city that you love to treat as your playground. And while all anyone will be talking about is ACL, we've got the scoop on all the other cool events happening in your city that don't involve 75,000 people screaming simultaneously. (Never thought of it THAT way, did you?)

If you want to avoid the huge crowds for national acts you won't get close to anyway, try out one of the alternative music festivals that will get you front and center to some of your favorite local acts like White Ghost Shivers, Follow That Bird, Mother Falcon and Dana Falconberry.

On Friday, Cheer Up Charlie's hosts the gAyCL Alternative Music Fest, the "free, independent alternative" to that other not-so-free, not-so-independent festival on the west side of town. At the same time, on the other side of I-35, Club DeVille will be hosting Glitter Ball 3000, where '70s glam rock and fashion will be all the rage.

Then, Saturday is all about the Ditch the Fest Fest, a collection of five venues, including Cheer Up Charlie's and Club DeVille, offer music from 2pm until 2am. It's just two dollars to get into one venue, but five dollars gets you into all five venues, plus all the free arts, crafts and moon bouncing you can stomach in between. Birds Barbershop will also be in attendance, handing out free Shiner Bock.

Speaking of awesome things, we can't get enough of The Amazing Acro-Cats, who are appearing this week at The City Theatre on Airport. From the same brilliant (twisted?) minds that brought us Tuna and the Rock-cats all-cat rock band, The Acro-Cats are doing nightly shows to delight everyone with fully-functioning eyes to the miracles of persistent animal training. There's a cat who walks a tightrope, a cat that balances on a ball, and another cat that pushes a shopping cart. These are not things that cats ordinarily do, people. But that's why these cats are amaaaaaaazing.

In other theater news, The Hideout Theatre continues its run of one of the best new plays to hit Austin stages in recent memory. MilkMilkLemonade is the delightfully twisted story of a small town gay boy and his only friend, a giant talking chicken. The writing is profoundly hysterical and sweet, and the performances are out of this world. Saturday's performance proceeds will benefit Out Youth's upcoming Queer Prom, so everyone is encouraged to dress up accordingly.

Gnap! Theater Projects is also fundraising for their upcoming trip to Atlanta for the Black Box Comedy Festival at the end of the month. They'll be traveling their widely acclaimed Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica show, which brilliantly skewers the nonsense that is Twilight right through its sparkly, melancholic heart. A cast of twenty captures all the best characters in hysterical and unexpected scenarios that romantics and satirists alike will love.

The biggest news in film is the Austin Film Society's fundraising benefit for the Austin wildfire victims to be held Sunday at The Paramount. The event will be a screening of Richard Linklater's new movie Bernie, which stars Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine. The tickets start at $100, but go to a good cause. And Jack Black and Matthew McBongodrums will both be in attendance, along with Linklater. If you can swing it, you'll definitely be rewarded.

On the music-ish front, The New Movement comedy house is hosting their first ever Mumbleoke competition at The Highball on Sunday night as well. From the deliciously messed-up minds over at TNM, Mumbleoke will be a chance for musically-inclined comedians to display their not-quite-there abilities of karaoke stardom to the best songs that no one bothered to learn the words to. In three adjudicated rounds, contestants will showcase their profound lack of lyrical knowledge.

Oh, and then there's always ACL to attend if you can find tickets and like that sort of thing. We hear tickets are still available for Sunday when Arcade Fire closes out the festival with what will MAYBE... probably... totally be an amazing show. Just don't say we didn't warn you about those 75,000 screaming fans.

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Study This

Austin is the No. 7 most educated city in the country, says Forbes

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

UT Austin gets a lot of praise, but this study includes degrees from everywhere — as long as the recipient lives in Texas.

Austin and San Antonio don't get all the same opportunities as the even larger cities in Texas, but in a recent study they prove they're prepared. Both made the top 10 in Forbes Advisor's "Most Educated Cities In The U.S." list: San Antonio was No. 4, and Austin was No. 7.

Other Texas cities made the list of 100, but some fell surprisingly far behind. Dallas made No. 20, followed by Houston at No. 79 and Fort Worth at No. 93. In some even more surprising twists, the smaller city of Garland was the fourth in Texas at No. 26, and El Paso, Corpus Christi, and Laredo all beat Houston.

This study compared the 100 largest cities in the country as of the 2021 census, using metrics like high school dropout rate, percentage of adults age 25 and older with some college, but no degree, undergraduate college completion rate, and percentage of adults age 25 and older with an advanced degree. There were also some lower-weighted metrics about equity, studying racial and gender college completion gaps.

Although many education studies fall into praising the University of Texas, this one considers education as a whole — while still mentioning the university once.

In San Antonio, the bachelor’s completion rate for people 25 and up was 67.30 percent, and 29.56 percent of people in that age group have advanced degrees. The study doesn't have much to say about educational opportunities in the city, focusing instead of its tourist potential. But it did note that the city had one of the smallest racial gaps for higher ed, which was only -5.49 percent. Its gender gap was 0.97 percent, and its high school dropout rate was 4.53 percent.

San Antonio's Trinity University did great in a Niche study that came out in early September. It was the No. 18 best small college in America, and topped the list entirely in Texas. Among bigger fish, it was also the No. 20 best liberal arts college in the country (and again the best in Texas), and made No. 4 in general for best colleges in Texas.

In Austin, 59.89 of people 25 or older completed Bachelor's degrees, and 22.76 percent completed advanced degrees. The racial gap was much worse at -10.87 percent. Its gender gap was a bit less than San Antonio's, at 0.69 percent, and its high school dropout rate was more at 7.56 percent.

Of course, this is where the study mentions UT, which is based in Austin. It made WalletHub's 2024 ranking of the best colleges and universities in Texas and earned the No. 2 spot; clinched the No. 6 spot in Niche's ranking of the best public universities in the country; and earned No. 2 in a list of best undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs by the Princeton Review, among other accolades.

Just breaking into the top 20, Dallas' Bachelor's degree completion rate was 57.05 percent, with 21.37 percent attaining advanced degrees. The racial and gender gaps were −14.99 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively. Much further down the list, Houston's Bachelor's degree completion rate was only 32.99 percent, and only 10.97% achieved advanced degrees. High school dropouts were at 8.90 percent, and the racial and gender gaps were −4.99 and 2.10 percent respectively.

Here are all the Texas cities on the list of 100, in order from most to least educated:

4. San Antonio
7. Austin
20. Dallas
26. Garland
49. El Paso
59. Corpus Christi
76. Laredo
79. Houston
81. Arlington
83. Irving

More information on the study by Forbes advisor, including full city rankings and expanded methodology, is available at forbes.com.

education universities