Please don’t panic, but Austin is now a week away from the maelstrom known as the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Some of you may be going, while others will shut themselves in and rewatch all five seasons of Breaking Bad to scour for any subtle clues they missed along the way.
Whether you're attending ACL Fest or ignoring it, take time this weekend to prepare yourself — or just enjoy our fair city before the musical invasion.
Friday, September 27 – Sunday, September 29
Oktoberfest Festivities at Banger’s and Austoberfest
Late September is that magical time of year when you can get in touch with your Bavarian side, even if you didn’t have one to begin with. St. Patrick’s Day often gets the media attention for hedonistic beer consumption, but it lasts just a single day. Oktoberfest keeps the party rolling for more than two weeks, and Austin has some wunderbar weekend options.
Banger’s, with some of the town’s best sausage, has plenty of fun on tap with specials, Germanic activities and likely some lederhosen and dirndls. Or you can choose from the massive and inaugural Austoberfest at the extremely Teutonic-sounding Saengerrunde Hall right next to Scholz Garten, complete with more beer and food from Austin’s top meatmongers, including Louis Mueller, Frank, Black’s BBQ, Salty Sow, Easy Tiger and much more.
If you’re more of a Francophile, you’ll also have the chance to taste a bit of French culture, albeit in song form and in English. But for many fans of musicals, Les Miserables was the first step in learning about the history of this oft-romanticized country.
Le Miz has always enjoyed a spectacular and devoted following, so whether you’ve seen it many times or are new to the epic musical, ZACH theater offers a best chance to catch it, starting this weekend through early November.
Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre Presents: Heart
If you want to enjoy an evening of dancing instead of singing, Heart features original music and choreography from the Ariel Dance Theatre. The company has been pushing the boundaries of modern dance together since 1993, and this collaboration will hit the stage for just weekend.
Saturday, September 28
In addition to engaging with German and French offerings, you can expand your cultural horizons this weekend with a taste of Japanese culture. Appropriately, it’s a winning combination of insanity and fun.
Peelander-Z is an energetic, comic punk band “officially” from the Z area of Planet Peelander. Each member is specifically colored-coded with vibrant clothing and hair, and their onstage antics — human bowling, for instance — are as big of a draw as their dynamic ballads.
Saturday, September 28 – Sunday, September 29
Once again, Dirty Sixth becomes Artsy Sixth as the Pecan Street Festival takes over for another weekend. Arts, crafts, live music and activities for the whole family are there for everyone’s enjoyment — all for free. It's also a great way to get back in shape for festival season.
Japanese comic punk band Peelander-Z.
