May Meetup

Austin businesses on Manor Road plan huge neighborhood May Day party

The Vortex will host live music and dance performances at the inaugural May Day Festival.

Photo courtesy of The Vortex

A new "progressive neighborhood celebration" will have Austinites touring Manor Road on May 2 in celebration of May Day, the traditional European spring celebration. This huge, free block party will move through five historic communities, says a press release, featuring more than two dozen local businesses along the way.

This highly planned festival by the Manor Road Coalition of businesses will present live music, dance performances, markets, and more on a schedule throughout the day. Attendees will have chances to wander around, but they should check the schedule first to ensure they're in the right place at the right time for their top priority activities.

The May Day Festival starts at 8 am with only one event, the Cherrywood Neighborhood Yard Sale. Then at 10 am, four more choices add possibility with kids' activities at the Alamo Rec Center, the pop-up Tiny Farmer's Market at 2009 Chicon Street, an affordable housing open house at Blackland CDC, or the Rogers Washington Holy Cross Block Party, an annual tradition in a historic district that was primarily Black starting in the 1950s.

At noon and later, the festival splinters off into four different events. Music-lovers who just want to listen should head to The Vortex to see the Minor Mishap Marching Band, an aerial performance by Sky Candy, and performances by The Music Academy of Austin and Ivy Roots; then they can head to Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches for more live music by Paula Maya and Seu Jacinto. These events showcase music from noon to 6 pm without overlap.

Attendees who want to dance can spend the whole afternoon and early evening at Howdy's and the Long Goodbye for country and line dancing lessons by DJ Ed West and Cumbia with DJ ULoveI.

Community-minded folks can take a break from the entertainment to meet their reps and learn about neighbor and city resources at Lively Offices (2309 Manor Rd.).

The coalition also encourages attendees to stop by local businesses along the way. Options for lunch and dinner include:

Bar Toti
Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches
Bird Bird Biscuit
Dai Due
El Chilito
Este
Fleet Coffee
Haymaker
Hoover's Cooking (May 31 is last day of service)
Mi Madre's
Patrizi's
School House Pub
Sour Duck Market
Spread and Co.
The Long Goodbye
Vic and Al's

The release also promises a business passport that will be active throughout May, offering incentives for shoppers at stores along Manor Road.

More information about the schedule, participants, and coalition members is available via the coalition's Instagram page.

festivals neighborhoods block party

Bin Business

One-man business brings curbside composting to suburbs north of Austin

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

People north of Austin who don't have municipal composting can still set out their food scraps for Curbside Compost.

As Central Texans look for ways to reduce their environmental impact this Earth Day, one local entrepreneur is turning everyday food scraps into something more sustainable — and keeping thousands of pounds of waste out of landfills in the process.

Gary Parente, founder of Curbside Compost, launched the service to make composting as easy as taking out the trash, especially for residents outside Austin city limits who don’t have access to municipal composting programs.

“We are a local and hassle-free way to compost,” Parente said. “You fill your bin with food scraps, you set it out, and we do all the rest of the magic.”

The subscription-based service allows customers in communities like Round Rock, Georgetown, Leander, and Cedar Park to place food scraps in a bin for pickup. The waste is then transported and turned into nutrient-rich compost.

That finished product doesn’t go far; it’s redistributed to Central Texas farms and, in some cases, back to customers, creating what Parente calls a “closed loop” system.

“It stays right here local to Austin and closes that food loop supply,” he said.

Parente said he started the business after noticing a gap in services outside Austin, which already offers curbside composting to its residents. Inspired in part by similar programs in other states, he saw an opportunity to expand access across the region.

The need is significant. Food waste makes up a large portion of landfill material, and when it’s buried without proper oxygen, it releases methane.

“There are millions of pounds of food waste that go into those landfills, and then they're just lost to the food cycle,” Parente said. “They get buried under trash, release methane and don’t help anything grow.”

Since launching in September of 2025, Parente said his one-man operation has already diverted nearly 10,000 pounds of food waste from landfills — a number he hopes will continue to grow as more people sign up.

Part of that growth, he said, comes down to convenience.

“What we found is a lot of people want to compost. They just don’t want the hassle,” Parente said. “The mess, the smells, the pests — that’s why I started the business. Just throw your scraps in, and we take care of the rest.”

Read the full story at our news partner KVUE.com.

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