weekend roundup

Waffles, fine arts and pizza: It's a flavor-filled weekend with arts options forevery taste

Experience a few of Austin's eclectic "musical communities" at the Austin MusicMap Launch Party.
Photo by: Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon
Live performance, raffles and carnival games at the Home Slice Carnival-O-Pizza.
Photo by Jessica Pages
So many choices to make during E.A.S.T. weekend. Grab a guidebook and make youritinerary.
Come see how the fanciest folks in Hyde Park live at the Historic Homes Tour.

Howdy, y'all! It's another beautiful weekend in the ATX, and, as always, we've got plenty to do to keep you busy.

We love the arts in all of its myriad forms, and this is a fantastic weekend to explore all the sides of our city's eclectic arts communities. With visual arts exhibits all across the East Side, theatrical arts with Shakespeare and puppets and comedic arts paired with all-you-can-eat waffles (!), there's so much to excite your eyes and ears and your taste buds all weekend long.

East Austin Studio Tour

Most prominently, it's time once again for Austin's annual appreciation of all things artistic on the east side of town. The beautiful beast known as E.A.S.T. has grown exponentially over the years, thanks to the amazing efforts of its organizers and supporters, and these two weekends generate a multitude of must-attend parties, showings and exhibitions at galleries, homes and beyond.

Make your own itinerary, get to know some new artists, and get ready to see some amazing and mind-blowing things. Keep in mind that "East Austin" covers an ever-widening geographic area, so it will take some planning and transportation to see it all!

WaffleFest 2012

What goes better with improv comedy then warm waffles with plenty of butter and syrup? Nothing, that's right. Every year, the Hideout Theatre hosts this three-day improv comedy festival that features 26 of the best and brightest troupes in the city, like Parallelogramophonograph and Confidence Men. You just have to pick your choice of shows and then load up on all the toppings you want.

The floors are already getting sticky with all the Batter Blasters pre-made waffle mix, but the fun doesn't stop until late Saturday night. It's not so much a question of which shows you should see, because you'll like them all. The only real question is how many waffles you can cram down your gullet in three nights?

Trouble Puppet Theater's Toil & Trouble

I got to see this newly imagined production of Shakespeare's MacBeth on Halloween night, with a packed house of costumed audience members. Even with the man dressed in a full bear suit sitting to my right, I was rapt to the action on the stage and the impressive choreography of the puppeteers/actors who brought the Scottish tragedy to life. This is the only way I want to watch Shakespeare from now on, I think, with all the epic violence and spookiness of hollow figures brought to life.

Special treat: Get there early on Saturday night to see Wayne Alan Brenner's blood-soaked art exhibit, Vivid Section, in the Salvage Vanguard Theatre lobby. His works are inspired by the Trouble Puppet show, and you may get to add your own embellishments to the artist-as-work himself.

Carnival-O-Pizza

The do-gooder New Yorkers at Home Slice Pizza have carved a very necessary niche in the food market on South Congress, and every year, they throw a big ol' birthday party to say thank you to the city. This Saturday's Carnival-O-Pizza is a full day of live music and carnival games and pizza-loving antics that the whole family will enjoy.

The big draws are the pizza eating contest and the Hands On an Eggplant Sub contests, which afford the winners free pizza for a year. Raffle prizes all day long will also benefit the Austin Bat Cave, promoting literacy in Austin youth.

Austin Music Map Launch Party

The aural experts at KUT have been working diligently as of late to collect the sounds of Austin to digitally represent the various musical communities of the city in a tangible, documented format. After more than a year of hard work, the Austin Music Map is ready to share some of their findings with a spectacular launch party at the ND on Saturday night.

Austin musicmakers Nicknack, The Minor Mishap Marching Band, White Ghost Shivers and Susan Torres & The Squeebox Mafia will all be performing at this exciting event, providing the rich musical flavor to enrich the stories and projects that have already been aired on KUT. Come learn about this new way of appreciating our city's unique makeup.

Lighting of the Great Tree at The Domain

I know, I know! It's too early to be posting anything about the holiday season, but it's happening whether you like it or not... Out at the Domain on Saturday morning, the giant 40-foot Christmas tree will be all decorated and ready for the annual "ooh"s and "ahhs" that come from lighting up the six thousand lights it takes to cover a tree of this size.

Country star Jack Ingram, The Voice's Lex Land and plenty of merry carolers will also be on hand to help make the atmosphere feel like a winter(-ish) wonderland. This is clearly for the folks who wish it were the holidays all year-round. The rest of y'all should avoid the malls like the plague...

Hyde Park Historic Homes Tour

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, you're invited to come peek inside the homes of seven renovated historic homes during the Hyde Park Historic Homes Tour. After meeting briefly at the Trinity United Methodist Church at Speedway and 44th Street, you're welcome to peruse the homes on the tour at your leisure.

The tour celebrates the long-standing traditions of architecture and renovation that have happened in this, the first Austin suburb, throughout the years. As the city has grown throughout the years, much of the original structures have remained. This is a great way to see how homeowners and designers have preserved that history throughout the decades.

That'll do it for me. I hope you all have a happy and safe weekend, full of all the delicious flavors that Austin has to offer. We'll see y'all on the other side!

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Be Free

Free Week is ready to rock again with new City of Austin funding

Photo courtesy of Red River Cultural District / Renee Dominguez

Chancla Fight Club performs at Valhalla during a previous Free Week Festival.

The Red River Cultural District (RRCD)'s Free Week music festival is back, and perhaps better than ever after some newly secured funding from the City of Austin.

On January 3 and 4, this admission-free winter music festival will bring Austinites back-to-back performances from dozens of local musicians, spanning over 20 venues, restaurants, bars, and food trucks in the Red River area.

Free Week, which began in Austin over 20 years ago, was nearly canceled earlier in 2024 due to lack of funding. But thanks to a decision made on November 7 — after a long and hard-fought battle between RRCD and City Council — Free Week and RRCD's other popular festival Hot Summer Nights are saved for the foreseeable future.

Here's what happened, according to RRCD interim Executive Director Nicole Klepadlo.

Back in 2023, RRCD — a few blocks featuring a high concentration of popular music venues and other nightlife destinations — started pleading its case for funding with the City of Austin. At the time organizers were hoping for a cultural funding grant to help support their donation-based summer festival, Hot Summer Nights. Unfortunately it was declined and still, today, Klepadlo is not really sure why.

"We were just kind of perplexed," she says.

So, they needed to pivot. In January of 2024, they presented their case to the City of Austin's Boards and Commissions, essentially requesting funding for the district as a whole, which would ultimately support their festivals. After some back-and-forth negotiating and even rejections early in the year, finally, on November 7, the RRCD's advocacy paid off.

"We received $150,000 annually for up to four years for cultural district funding," says Klepadlo. "It will largely go to supporting Free Week and Hot Summer Nights. But it will also go to an economic analysis. One of the things people kept saying is 'What is the economic impact of your district?' So this will help leverage us for other future funding opportunities through brands or donors."

It's not just about urgent needs, now. RRCD is also planning to start work on a new "cultural history project" showcasing the area's lasting value to locals.

"We want to start diving into the musical heritage of the Red River Cultural District and start telling the stories," says Klepadlo. "Many of these venues were different venues than they are today; we've had a lot of musicians who got their start here back in the 70s."

Some of the venues and businesses involved in the RRCD include the Waterloo Amphitheater, Mohawk, Cheer Up Charlies, Stubbs, Valhalla, The 13th Floor, Elysium, Empire Control Room and Garage, Creek and Cave, Chess Club, Swan Dive, Barbarella, Flamingo Cantina, various food trucks, restaurants, and groups like the German Texas Heritage Society, the First Baptist Church, and the Austin Symphony. All told, there are about 40 businesses that are engaged on a regular basis.

Of course, it wasn't always like this. After a wave of venue closures back in 2015, a group of music venue representatives, small businesses, and members of cultural institutions all got together for one of Klepadlo's "favorite meetings" at The Mohawk.

"Back then there were over 12 independent live music venues, so there was a lot of competition," she says. "But we were all sitting around this table at Mohawk realizing, 'We've got to band together.' And that has morphed into forging this unified voice and collective, that has really ended up identifying the needs for this particular place. Not just for locals, but for jobs and tourism."

A meeting at Mohawk back in 2015 helped form what the RRCD is today.Photo from redriverculturaldistrict.org.

Another of the RRCD's hopes is that it can keep the vibe of the area intact going forward, even through the fast development is sweeping across the east side of downtown. Organizers want to collaborate with the city to make sure the district stays there (and stays cool) for years to come.

When asked if there might be something the RRCD could do to prevent venues from getting bulldozed and replaced by condos or something, Klepadlo replies, "We wish."

Right now RRCD hasn't gotten the traction or support it'd like in order to ensure that future development in the area honors what the district is all about. But Klepadlo is hopeful.

"This funding gives me hope that as we start to think about what happens to the eastern part of downtown, there will be a Red River Cultural District that looks like it does today; only more vibrant," she says. "I'm really excited to see where things go from here."

Aside from this new funding from the City of Austin, this year's Free Week is also supported by sponsors and partners like Airbnb, Austin Chronicle, KUTX 98.9 FM, Downtown Austin Alliance, The Moody Center’s Red River Rising, and many more.

The music lineup for Free Week will be revealed soon, as well as a new lineup of food and drink promotions. CultureMap will share updates as they're available.

civic issues city council live music concerts festivals free