ACL Fest leaves Zilker Park a muddy mess
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A concert-goer at ACL Fest sported homemade galoshes. Photo: Asher Price/Axios
The rains that soaked Austin late last week left Zilker Park a slippery, muddy mess as tens of thousands of people squelched their way through the grounds.
Why it matters: The slippery scene once again raised questions about the tradeoffs involved with hosting the festival at Austin's marquee municipal park.
By the numbers: A total of roughly 2 inches of rain fell in Austin on Thursday and Friday, leaving Zilker Park soaked as tens of thousands of people stampeded through.
- Meanwhile, per 2025 figures, attendance for ACL Fest each of the six days was about 75,000. This year, many attendees were wearing rain boots, cowboy boots and even homemade galoshes. Some abandoned their shoes in the mud and went bare foot.
Between the lines: Festival producer C3 Presents, a subsidiary of Live Nation, is on the hook to get Zilker Park back to normal.
- "At organizer's expense, the organizer will remediate the property as deemed required" by the city's parks and recreation director, per a 2025 contract between C3 Presents and the city of Austin.
- A portion of ACL ticket sales also are earmarked for the Austin Parks Foundation. Last year's festival generated $8.5 million for improvements in city parks (in addition to Zilker's maintenance and restoration). Overall, the festival has generated nearly $80 million over a roughly two-decade partnership with the foundation.
- A festival-commissioned report concluded last year's festival contributed $557.8 million to the Austin economy.
Yes, but: The park is currently scheduled to re-open Oct. 19, just eight days after the festival's final day.
- Whether it will really be open even by the end of October for the scores of Austinites who play soccer, frisbee and touch football on its grounds every weekend now feels up in the air.
What they're saying: "The damage we've witnessed to the Great Lawn is unacceptable," Austin City Council member Ryan Alter, whose district includes Zilker Park, said over the weekend. "It is a public asset that must be available for everyone after the festival, but I'm very worried it won't be."
- "For 25 years, ACL Fest has enjoyed an incredible partnership with both the city of Austin and Austin Parks and Recreation," ACL officials wrote in an email to Axios. "Every year, ACL Fest remediates any areas of Zilker Park that need repair following the festival, and this year will be no different."
- The officials said that starting Sunday night they were bring in extra resources to remove temporary turf and ground protection and will "prioritize rest and recovery of the park this week by strictly limiting activity on the grounds before next weekend."
- On Saturday, doors to ACL Fest were delayed two hours — to 2pm — as crews worked to improve conditions.
The intrigue: David Weinberg, Alter's opponent in the November election, has raised the mud as a political issue.
- "It is pretty rich that (Alter) is lamenting the mudification of Zilker Park's Great Lawn," Weinberg observed on social media, arguing Alter had supported a 2023 plan that would "permanently alienate parkland on the Great Lawn by building an amphitheater for Live Nation."
- Alter tells Axios that was a mischaracterization of his position — he supported some elements of the multi-faceted plan for the park and was against others — and he ultimately opposed the overall plan, pointing at the time to "flash points of irreconcilable differences."
The bottom line: ACL Fest is scheduled to be held at Zilker through 2040, per the contract between Austin and C3 presents.