Austin City Limits Music Festival pumps $369M into local economy

Austin City Limits Music Festival officials announced Tuesday that last year's two-weekend event raked in $369 million for the local economy — the first time the figure has surpassed $300 million.

Why it matters: ACL is the city's largest music festival, shutting down Zilker Park for at least a month each year and driving tens of thousands of tourists to the city.

By the numbers: Since festival organizer C3 Presents began tracking the data in 2006, the group estimates ACL has generated over $2.6 billion for the Austin economy.

• A portion of ticket sales goes toward the Austin Parks Foundation, and last year's event raised $6.7 million for city parks.
• The funding is in addition to the maintenance and restoration of Zilker Park, which are paid for annually by ACL.

What they're saying: C3 Presents hired Angelou Economics to survey the festival's economic impact, and the group found the increase from previous years could be attributed to a spike in spending on food and beverages by attendees at the park and local restaurants.

Flashback: Organizers paid the city $103,530 to shut down Zilker Park to the public for at least 27 days last year.

• The group also pays park rental fees, ticket fees and reimbursements for costs related to public safety and transportation.