So you didn't get tickets to ACL this year. They were all sold out, they were too expensive, or you didn't want to wear a skin of dust for nine hours in a row. Or you just don't like music festivals.

If the first three options are the case, you're going to love the alternative put together by $2 Shows and Lucy the Poodle Productions. (If the latter is the case, you're living in the wrong city. But we've still got some options for you that won't involve going anywhere near downtown.)

All day Saturday, five popular venues along I-35 will host Ditch the Fest Fest 2, a substitute music festival that will give you all the joys of ACL at a ridiculously affordable ticket price. (They don't call them $2 Shows for nothing.) With two George Washingtons, you can get into any of the venues. Or for one Abraham Lincoln, you'll get one wristband that will get you into five venues with a total of nine stages featuring nearly 80 bands and DJs over 12 hours. Whew!

You'll get to see amazing local acts like Mother Falcon and How I Quit Crack at Cheer Up Charlie's, Boyfrndz and Coma in Algeirs at Red 7, Dana Falconberry at Beauty Bar, Noise Revival Orchestra at The Scoot Inn and Not in the Face at Club DeVille. That's just seven of the 79 bands playing, yo.

You can still plan out your schedule and go back and forth between the venues to catch your favorite local and touring acts on their respective stages. On the East side, Cheer Up Charlie's will have acts alternating all day between their three stages and The Scoot Inn will have shows starting at 7 p.m. West of I-35, bands will play all day on Red7's two stages, both of Beauty Bar's stages until 8 p.m. and on Club DeVille's outdoor stage starting at 6 p.m. Once central parking spot can get you to all the places you want to go.

In between the stages, Austin artists, crafters and vendors will be touting their wares for sale and pleasure. You can also expect to see puppets, belly dancing, bodypainting, 8-bit video games, live painting and screenprinting as well as an honest-to-goodness moonbounce. Meanwhile, Birds Barbershop will be handing out free Shiner Bock while supplies last. You're not going to find this much free fun included at that OTHER festival, I guarantee.

So if you're looking for a weekend filled with musical overload, don't fret about not seeing Coldplay and Kanye over at ACL. You wouldn't get close enough to see them anyway with all those thousands of people getting in your way. (Plus, you can always hear them from the shores of Lady Bird Lake, amiright?)

Make the economical choice. Ditch the fest and join Ditch the Fest Fest 2 this Saturday.