Weekend Event Guide

Here are the top 5 things to do in Austin this weekend

There are tons of hot happenings in Austin this Mother’s Day weekend. Get your festival fix at a favorite Austin pastime, take Mom to the ballet, or sample premium booze at a whiskey festival. We've rounded up the five best events of the weekend. For a full list of happenings, visit our events calendar.

Pecan Street Festival
One of the city’s most beloved street festivals returns. This Saturday and Sunday, the 2016 Spring Pecan Street Festival is set to feature more than 40 music performances on three stages, tons of local vendors, unique arts and crafts, and more. Spend the weekend on Sixth Street enjoying a quintessential Austin event.

Ballet Austin presents Cinderella
Your Friday night plans are en pointe. Running this weekend only, Ballet Austin’s Cinderella hits the Long Center for the Performing Arts. Get lost in the classic tale of a princess, a glass slipper, and a little bit of magic.

Maker Faire Austin
Celebrate Mom with a family outing to the Palmer Events Center this Saturday and Sunday. The Maker Faire is back for another year of invention, creativity, education, and entertainment. Try your piloting skills in the drone fly zone or check out a 30-foot fire-shooting robot. Witness the talent, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in the masterpieces the makers create.

Opal Divine’s presents the Eighth Annual American Whiskey Festival
If your mama likes her whiskey, this is the weekend event for you. Partake in some of the nation’s best whiskeys and enter Mom in the Ladies Hat Contest in honor of Derby Day. Enjoy all the comforts of the Kentucky pastime in the comfort of Opal Divine's Penn Field location.

Listen to Your Mother
Head to the theater and listen in on the gripping, hilarious, and heartfelt readings this Saturday. Experience a journey through motherhood and all of its complexity, diversity, and humor with the help of readers like Jamie Evans, Lori Evans, and Kathryn Whitaker. Leave the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center with an even bigger appreciation for your mom than you had before.

Head to the Spring Pecan Street Festival this Saturday and Sunday.

Pecan Street Festival_Sixth Street_clown_Spring 2014

Pecan Street Festival/Facebook

Head to the Spring Pecan Street Festival this Saturday and Sunday.

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Hot Headlines

Austin drops from world's 50 best cities in this week's top stories

Photo by Tracy Vu on Unsplash

Austin needs to put in some major work to improve its ranking for the 2026 report.

Editor's note: This week's top Austin news includes a tumble for Austin in a prestigious global ranking, two exciting openings, and the closure of a longtime Rainey Street bar. Get the details on our biggest stories of the week below.

And for festive ideas on how to spend the long holiday weekend, go here.

1. Austin drops out of top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025. The Capital City took a tumble on this annual report of the "World's Best Cities," while Houston and Dallas rebounded.

2. New South Austin restaurant swims against current of expensive omakase. Tancho Sushi proves omakase doesn't have to break the bank, with "everyday" prices ranging from $24-$59.

Tancho Sushi offers affordable omakase. Photo courtesy of Tancho Sushi

3. Brewery named after famous character Old Gregg debuts in Austin suburb. Austin bar stars Matt Luckie and Max Moreland are taking it to the 'burbs with an expansive Pflugerville brewery, open now.

4. 7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

5. Rainey Street bar Icenhauer's closes after ongoing sales losses. One of Rainey Street's original bars has called it quits after a 14-year run.

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