Hot Summer Nights 2026

Austin's donation-based music fest Hot Summer Nights reveals 2026 lineup

Elevator Days played Hot Summer Nights in 2025.

Photo by Andrea Escobar

If news feels slow in Austin, you can bet musicians are feeling it too. That's why Hot Summer Nights exists. The donation-based festival by the Red River Cultural District (RRCD) platforms local musicians, giving them a paid opportunity to play and offering music-lovers an affordable way to catch up with the scene. The 2026 lineup, featuring more than 130 local acts, is now out for listeners to explore. The ninth annual Hot Summer Nights will be held from July 16-18.

In addition to creating paid gigs for performers, the festival drives food and beverage business to venues, encourages folks to get to know businesses they'll visit year-round, and raises funds through donations and sponsorships for long-term preservation and curation throughout the district, which stretches up Red River Street from Sixth Street to Waterloo Greenway. It exists specifically to bring the district to life during a time when business is typically slow; fans may also know its winter counterpart, Free Week.

There is something for just about everyone at Hot Summer Nights, whether they're fans of indie rock, punk, hip-hop, Latin, country, electronic, and more. Most events adhere to venues' usual adults-only age limits, but a new event specifically caters to kids: A brass quintet of Austin Symphony Orchestra musicians will provide a soundtrack to two readings of How Do Dinosaurs Go To School, one in Spanish (12:30 pm) and one in English (1 pm).

Also new this year, True Blue Tattoo is officially a Hot Summer Nights venue. DevilWoman will play a show on Saturday, and True Blue artists will be giving flash tattoos all weekend.

“Hot Summer Nights captures our Red River community at full volume,” said RRCD executive director Nicole Klepadlo in a press release. “Offering the freedom to wander into something unexpected, this festival has become one of Austin’s favorite ways to experience downtown in the summer. We’re proud to keep it free and accessible while creating paid opportunities for the artists and venues that give this city its cultural identity.”

We'll publish the full lineup in easy-to-read text below, but here are some of our top picks, in alphabetical order: Almost Heaven, Annabelle Chairlegs, Big Wy's Brass Band, Blakchyl, Bruce, Geto Gala, Glass Mansions, Grocery Bag, Haha Laughing, Jet Cemetery, Mugger, Paper Sister, Pedal Steel Noah, Stalefish, Subpar Snatch, and Valice. Live music columnist John Laird will be back with his picks in the beginning of July.

Hot Summer Nights 2026 lineup poster The full lineup for Hot Summer Nights 2026.Graphic courtesy of the Red River Cultural District

Tickets are not required, but RRCD asks fans to RSVP in advance as a courtesy. Each RSVP doubles as an entry to win a prize pack containing skip-the-line passes, plus concert tickets and gift cards from local businesses including Resound Presents, The 13th Floor, The Creek & The Cave, Kingdom, Flamingo Cantina, and more. RSVPers who donate $5 get two entries, and $10 gets 3.

Venue lineup:

Chess Club
The Creek and The Cave
Elysium
Flamingo Cantina
Kingdom
Liberty Lunch
Marlow
Mohawk
Stubb’s
Swan Dive
The 13th Floor
The Side Bar
True Blue Tattoo
Valhalla
Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park

Music artist lineup:

10YR
All Fours
Almost Heaven
Annabelle Chairlegs
Antisera
Azurah Vibez
Bat Lips
Big Wy's Brass Band
Blakchyl
Blossom Aloe
Broken Gold
BRUCE
BS
Buzz electro
careabout
Cheetah Cheetah
Chicoselfie
CJ Lux
Cleek b2b Los Dos
Cody Brandell
Commercial Breaks
Creeping Death
D-Madness Project
Death Of The Last Beautiful Jaguar
deCasa
Deuce Monroe
DevilWoman
DJ Ajah Monet
DJ Confucius Jones
DJ Cysum
DJ Napalm
Don't Get Lemon
Dopez
Dream 2 Dream
Egee
Flight by Nothing
Floating Cube
Fuego Santo
Gatsu
Gavas Beat
Geto Gala
Gio
Glass Mansions
Gran Moreno
Grocery Bag
Guiding Light
Gutwrench
haha Laughing
Heavy Velvet
Hex Partner
High Fade
Honorable Mentions
Huge
Imminent End
J Soulja
J.T. Loux
Jaelynn Rae
Jagger
Jahleel Fareal
James Ryan
Jeremiah Jackson
Jet Cemetery
JMil
Joy Leone
Junerise
Keepsake
Kylie Hernandez
Lauren Lakis
Leo Napoleon
Leslie Nava
Libby and the Loveless
Limit of Destruction
Llano
Los Sonificos
Lynn
Lynndigo
Magic Rockers of Texas
Me Like Bees
Mid-range Jumper
Mikky & The Doom
Mugger
Narrow Haunts
Nemesis
Nilsa no One
Object Fiction
Oddmanrush
Paper Sister
Parker Woodland
Patrick McNally
Pedal Steel Noah
Pillager
Pony Soprano
Psuedo Desnudo
Pure Instinct
Queen Serene
Ras I-Dre & Royal Frequency
Red Bud
Rex b2b Kavi
Ritual
Saint Judas & The Black Hymns
Santi
Sap
Secret Siren
Sex Pump
Sexpop
Sgt Remo & the Vibratones
Sin & Seraphim
Sittin' Sideways
Smooth Nature
Sodomy Cop
soft silence, gentle noise
Soto The Activist
Soulfiya + Kroywen + Mr. Blacc Sheep
Spirl
Stalefish
Starflake
Subpar Snatch
Swedish Magazines
Team Trust
Temptrix
The High Cost of Paying God
The Mox
The Nimbus
Topdown
Two-Legged Dog
ULTRAvioletcoraline
Valice
Water Damage
Whisk
Woodward & Parker
Xenobyt

live music concerts festivals free

Best in Shows

Guide book to live music in Austin wins 3 independent book awards

Thunderhouse Media Group/thunderhouse.co

Austin's Music Scene won two gold awards and a silver one for Best Cover Design.

A first-of-its-kind guide on Austin's music landscape has won notable new acclaim in the independent publishing arena. Austin’s Music Scene: Your Guide to the City’s Most Iconic Artists & Venues won two gold awards and one silver at the 2026 Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Book Awards in May.

Austin's Music Scene is the debut title for Thunderhouse Media Group, earning the imprint the gold-level Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book in the nonfiction category. The other gold was awarded for Best Gift Book, and the silver was for Best Cover Design. The IBPA Book Awards have been held for 38 years, and there were more than 1,900 entries in 2026, the most IBPA has ever received.

The book was published in October of 2025 as a collaboration between Thunderhouse — led by “recovering journalist" Mitch Baranowski — and the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), a popular organization that helps artists afford health care. It takes a journalistic slant, getting information straight from the venues, artists, festivals, and other featured organizations within, and presenting it as much as a historical document as an actionable guide.

No matter where Austin's Music Scene goes as a gift, it connects readers to the town through color photography, profiles, and most impactfully, a donation of half of all net proceeds to HAAM.

“No single book can capture the full breadth of Austin's music scene, and we knew that going in,” said Baranowski in a press release about the win. “Our aim was to create a real love letter, a curated snapshot of the scene today, and let the artists speak for themselves."

Baranowski also doled out thanks to several key contributors and supporters, including HAAM and its members and fans, creative director Chris Ritchie, photo editor David Brendan Hall, and the rest of the creative team. He credits Ritchie with the winning cover design, a creative collage of marquee letters and a stamp that makes it clear that the purchase will support musicians.

Most of all, we're grateful to the artists, venue owners, festival organizers and volunteers who trusted us with their stories," said Baranowski. "This is their book.”

Austin's Music Scene was one of several titles to win multiple gold IBPA Book Awards this year; in its recap, IBPA lists six. The runners-up for the nonfiction Bill Fisher Award and Best Gift Book were Blue Hour Homecoming: Finding Life on the Fringes of Reproduction and Make Myna Double: Cocktails for Bird Lovers, respectively. The gold winner in Best Cover Design in nonfiction was Art of Fabric Block Printing: An Illustrated Guide with 12 Playfully Modern Projects.

Austin’s Music Scene is available to purchase online and at select independent booksellers.

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