Pre-Fest Party

Kick off ACL Fest with Last Band Standing at The Parish, featuring Marmalakes,Hello Wheels & The Bare Feat

Looking for an Austin-centric way to kick off your 2012 ACL Fest experience? Join CultureMap for the Last Band Standing Pre-ACL Party at The Parish on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

This fall, 16 up-and-coming local bands representing the diverse pockets of Austin’s music scene battled it out in CultureMap’s first ever Last Band Standing contest, where music aficionados and fans voted for their favorite Austin bands until only two bands remained.

On Wednesday, the two finalists — Hello Wheels and The Bare Feat — will perform live at The Parish, and CultureMap’s first Last Band Standing winner will be announced. The winning band gets more than just a title and recognition as one of Austin’s most popular new groups — the band will also win Artist passes to ACL Music Festival (coming up Oct. 12 – 14).

Four-piece band Hello Wheels brings its self-described brand of stomp-folk back to The Parish, and The Bare Feat — a band of nine Austin High students — will prove that age isn’t a determining factor for musical talent. Local folk darlings, Marmalakes, are also set to take the stage as the evening’s headlining act.

It wouldn’t be a proper Pre-ACL party without some CultureMap perks. In addition to a full night of awesome local tunes, all party-goers will have the opportunity to win last-minute entry into the festival. If you missed the window to purchase passes to the sold-out festival, this could be your ticket to an unforgettable weekend of music.

CultureMap’s Last Band Standing Pre-ACL Party kicks off at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at The Parish. Tickets are available in advance for $12 or $15 at the door.

A percentage of the proceeds will benefit HAAM, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians.

Reexamining Don Draper

Jon Hamm, Henry Winkler, and more headed to Austin for TV festival

Jon Hamm

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Jon Hamm is coming to Austin to talk about Don Draper.

From May 29 to June 1, 2025, the ATX TV Festival will take over downtown Austin, and this year Jon Hamm will be joining the festival for the first time.

Hamm will be here for an event called A Mad Men Retrospective, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show's finale. In this panel (the moderator of which is not yet announced), Hamm will reflect on his Emmy-winning performance as Mad Men's Don Draper, the uniqueness of the character in the TV canon, and the show's influence 10 years after it ended.

Jon Hamm may be best known as Draper, but he's also given celebrated performances in several movies and other shows like Fargo, Black Mirror, and — fun fact! — Gilmore Girls.

Celebrating TV is what the ATX TV Festival is all about. This annual summer event is put on by ATX TV and consists of screenings, Q&As, and panel conversations; plus all sorts of parties, live music, happy hours, and other events. It's known for reunions of classic series and cult hits, and according to the website, it's like "TV camp for grownups."

Jon Hamm isn't the only heavy-hitter in this year's lineup.

Programming also includes an acting class and Q&A with Henry Winkler himself, a live script reading of classic episodes from The Golden Girls and Designing Women (guest actors to be announced), a reunion of the creatives and cast of the HBO hit series The Leftovers, a live recording of the podcast Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast with Suits stars and co-hosts Sarah Rafferty and Patrick J. Adams, and much more.

Additionally, the festival's annual Pitch Competition is still accepting open pitch submissions through January 17. This gives creatives in Austin a chance to pitch their show idea in front of some of the industry's biggest showrunners and executives. Those in the top 10 will receive a year of support to make the next steps in their TV careers.

Festival badges and passes ($150-535) are on sale now.

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