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Cautious Clay performing during SXSW 2020. (Aaron Rogosin)
No matter if you’re a SXSW badge holder or not attending at all, the music, arts, culture and tech festival is a 10-day timeframe to celebrate Austin, especially after its virtual hiatus.
With hundreds of free and unofficial SXSW events popping up all over the city over the next weekend, businesses are sharing the festival love with everyone.
SXSW attendees and bystanders alike are welcome at these unofficial events.
A post shared by Central Machine Works (@central.machine.works)
See some SXSW musicians for free and without the badge at Central Machine Works Brewery, 4824 East Cesar Chavez St., on Friday. Presented by The Black Austin Musicians Collective and Ovrld, Jonny Jukebox kicks off the showcase at 2 p.m., followed by SXSW artist Urban Heat at 3 p.m., then Alesia Lani at 4 p.m. Big SXSW names of the night include Geto Gala, a collaboration between local artists Jake Lloyd and Deezie Brown, at 5 p.m. and Jackie Venson at 6 p.m. Expect more free live music through this weekend and next!
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Don’t miss one of four opportunities to grab some of Bad Larry’s famous award-winning burgers. First up, New York bar Ray’s, which is eyeing an Austin expansion and run by Hollywood star Justin Theroux, will hold a two-day popup on March 11-12 on 607 Blanco St. Bad Larry is cooking up free food after 7:30 p.m., with cocktails on deck from Little Brother, live music and T-shirts. You can also catch Bad Larry at Fareground Austin Saturday from noon-4:00 p.m. on Saturday or at Little Brother, 89 Rainey St, on Monday.
Try something different every day at Neighborhood Goods’ unofficial SXSW celebration, 1007 S. Congress Ave., starting with a launch party for D.S. & Durga’s fragrance, “Bistro Waters,” complete with pear martinis and hors d’oeuvres. Meet with Tempo’s Head Coach Melissa for a fireside chat and meet up on Saturday and Sunday, then stay for customizable bouquets from Flower Peddler from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
Connect with other Black innovators, creators and investors for a lowkey networking brunch at Half Step, 75 1/2 Rainey St. Hosted by the Plain Sight app, app users can connect with other attendees prior to the event. Admission is free and you can RSVP here or through the app.
Grab a daiquiri to sip and stroll through the 20+ vendor market, while DJ LostNFound starts the tunes at the Austin Daiquiri Factory. Fire dancers, handcrafted goods, tarot readings, gems and more await at this family-friendly event. Attend for free or grab a GA+ ticket, which includes a goodie bag giveaway from local artists, or VIP, which includes access to the VIP lounge and raffle tickets.
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More than a dozen local artists will pass through Hole in the Wall’s halls, 2538 Guadalupe St. Starting at noon, the 21+ showcase will bring (deep breath) Hover, Stunts, Lady Dan, Shooks, Half Dream, Sad Cell, Party Van, Tearjerk, Dice House, Quiet Light, Dewey Ivy, Being Dead, Hall Johnson, Otis Wilkins, Bad Markings and Glasshealer.
A post shared by Scholz Garten (@scholzgarten)
Celebrating alongside the SXSW commencement, Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Blvd., has a full lineup of musicians each day through Monday. Catch A. Sinclair and Brother Thunder among others on Saturday, David Ramirez and Jonathan Terrell on Sunday. The events are free but RSVP here.
Swing by Love, Tito’s, the explosively popular local vodka brand’s retail store, during SXSW for a free bandana or T-shirt screen printing session with Raw Paw and live music from Miggy & Zack, DJ Josie Lockhart, Shawn Pander, Batty Jr. and more. Net proceeds from purchases at the store go to nonprofits partnered with Tito’s. Bring the dog for a photo in the puppy-friendly space—view the full music schedule here.
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There’s going to be live music all day and late into the night at Hotel Vegas & The Volstead on Saturday. The day will begin with Mutiny Market vendors on the patio from 1-6 p.m. and live music starting with Honky Tonk Machine at 3 p.m. on the patio. Artists will rotate all day and performances will be free until 7 p.m., when Chief Cleopatra takes the stage, followed by Calliope Musicals, Sweet Spirit and Golden Dawn Arkestra. There will be a cash cover at the door.
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Expect drinks, music, snacks, innovation conversations and advice for using Twitter Spaces at the Lustre Pearl, 94 Rainey St. No badge needed for a discussion on Meditation in the Metaverse with Deepak Chopra. RSVP here.
Claiming to be the “longest-running DIY experimental & outsider music fest,” in the U.S., Yeast By Sweet Beast has been running since March 2000. Taking place at the unforgettable circus-themed Carousel Lounge, YBSB will kick off on Friday with a mini-showcase from Heterodox Records of Portland, Oregon. Musicians include enereph, noyouyesme, Lost Cat Magnet, Production Unit Xero, followed by a show from San Antonio’s Coach Campa. Admission is $5 at the door each night and all ages are permitted.
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Join Austin native Adriene Mishler for an official SXSW yoga sesh at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd., fit for wellness enthusiasts of all ages. Try Mishler’s unique style of mindful movements, physical and spiritual connection from a diverse pool of influences. Bring your own mat. This event is free and open to the public.
San Juan is one of many destinations that can be reached through American Airlines. (Canva)
After the past two years, we all deserve a vacation. The weather is warming up and with a record-breaking 20 million passengers expected to pass through Austin-Bergstrom, it’s certain to be a bustling year for travel.
Expect more flights as ABIA grows into 2022’s changes but for now, take advantage of these great destinations you can reach via direct flight.
This brand-new flight, which started on March 28, will take you to the historical city of Amsterdam. Famous for its canals, high art museums and that famously laid-back Dutch lifestyle, the flight from Austin to Amsterdam runs on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has flights starting just above $500 if you book far enough in advance.
Whether you’re trying to book your next ski vacation in advance or want to spend the summer where it’s cooler, American Airlines will fly you directly to Aspen for right around $800 round-trip. Visit in late September for the Aspen Film Festival or hike the massive mountains in the summer if skiing isn’t your vibe.
Starting up again after a pandemic hiatus on April 8, Austinites can indulge in all the beer, sausage and German scenery they can handle after just one flight. Running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Lufthansa will shuttle you from the Lone Star State to the largest city in Germany. Catch a round-trip flight for as low as $800.
Say aloha to paradise, which is just a few hours away with Hawaiian Airlines’ direct flight. For just a bit more than $1,000 round trip, Honolulu’s surf destinations, volcanos, sun-kissed beaches and tourism of the largest city in Hawaii can be all yours for just a little while.
Hop across the pond in one go by flying British Airways or Virgin Atlantic to London Town’s Heathrow airport. You can catch a flight with Virgin Atlantic beginning May 25, with starting prices hovering around $1,200 for a round-trip ticket, or through British Airways, starting around $500 each way.
The colors, history and mind-blowing food in Mexico is only $150 per ticket, when you fly with Aeromexico, each way—how could you afford not to go? Whether you’ve been dying to visit for Día de los Muertos or the Frida Kahlo museum, the capital city of Mexico is less than three hours away from Austin.
Perfect for a weekend getaway, the sandy, white beaches of Miami await. For around $300 each way on Southwest and American Airlines, Miami’s Cuban food, Art Deco district and beachy vibes make it feel like summer all year long.
Like its fellow city to the south, it is nearly impossible not to have fun when you’re visiting. Don’t miss the crowded downtown Macroplaza, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Paseo de Santa Lucia and mountainous views as far as the eye can see. Fly direct from Spirit Airlines starting on June 22, with one-way tickets starting at $150.
The beautiful clear blue beaches of Jamaica are just a single flight away when you fly with American Airlines, which can get you on the sand after about four hours in the air. A $700 round trip ticket is the only thing standing between you and island vibes.
Known for its colorful architecture and lively nightlife scene, fly to San Juan in less than five hours through American Airlines. The cobblestone paths of Old San Juan will bring you back to the 16th century but the Paseo de la Princesa bayside promenade will show you a good time. Round trip tickets start around $400.
Can’t stand the Texas heat in the summertime? Spend the season up north! Located in the lush Canadian province of British Columbia, Vancouver will treat visitors to incredible views via the Capilano Suspension Bridge, whale watching tours and the city’s artistically-diverse scene. Flights begin on June 1, so grab tickets from Air Canada for about $200 each way.
Read a complete list of nonstop flights here.
For the last 10 years, Circuit of the Americas has drawn thousands of people to major events, from races like the U.S. Grand Prix and MotoGP to concerts by megastars like Elton John and Kendrick Lamar, helping to pump millions of tourist dollars into the local economy while thrilling fans with A-list entertainment.
The 1,500-acre venue has also spent the last decade infuriating many of those same fans when they become ensnarled in the periodic traffic jams that happen when thousands of vehicles are crammed down country roads in rural Travis County.
The traffic debacle around a Rolling Stones concert last year caused such an uproar, it sparked a new urgency about addressing transportation problems and disability access issues at COTA. While there have been notable infrastructure improvements in recent weeks, some of the biggest changes to the surrounding transportation infrastructure could still be years away.
By most accounts, the Rolling Stones put on an amazing, well-produced show – if you could get in. Some concertgoers told KUT the traffic was so bad they couldn’t access the venue.
When the show ended, the problems continued.
“We reached this one parking lot and we just stayed there for like an hour and a half. Not moving at all,” said Andrea Cardenas, a St. Edward’s University student who attended the show with her dad last November.
“We were seeing people sitting against the gate just sleeping or kind of giving up, because people were really not able to get (Uber or Lyft) rides,” she said. “I don’t know if I would want to go again if the traffic situation would be like that.”
Her experience was far from isolated.
In their only public statement about the fiasco, COTA officials accepted no blame and offered no apology to Rolling Stones fans. Instead, COTA’s statement blamed worker shortages by outside staffing companies and the Waze app for “turning heavy traffic into a mess.”
COTA’s defensive response infuriated fans even more. The anger was so visceral it reverberated inside Austin’s City Hall.
Weeks after the concert, City Council used its leverage over COTA to require quarterly meetings with local officials on the status of infrastructure upgrades around the venue. COTA has to get city approval to apply for subsidies from the state’s event trust funds program. Council attached a list of requirements to that permission slip.
“It was important to me that the city of Austin took action,” said Vanessa Fuentes, a City Council member who introduced the item and whose district includes Circuit of the Americas. “We have to think about the safety of our community.”
The first quarterly update, issued ahead of schedule on March 4, revealed COTA had hired business consultant J.L. Powers & Associates to help track down local, state and federal funding that could help pay for transportation and safety upgrades.
Some progress is being made, even if it might seem to be happening at a glacial pace.
Circuit of the Americas is fed by two roads from State Highway 130: FM 812 and Elroy Road.
Travis County just weeks ago finished widening Elroy Road from two lanes to five, including a middle turn lane. The project spanned about 1 mile west from Circuit of the Americas Boulevard to the already widened section of Elroy Road that connects to SH 130.
FM 812 falls under TxDOT’s jurisdiction. The two-lane road is slated to be widened to four lanes, but contractors won’t even be able to bid on the project until 2030 under the regional transportation schedule by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
CAMPO, which is governed by a 22-member panel that includes Austin City Council members, could vote to fund the project sooner. Fuentes says she’s spoken with her Council colleagues on CAMPO about advancing funding for FM 812.
“The power is in CAMPO’s hands,” she said.
Right now, there are no plans to add sidewalks and bike paths along FM 812. TxDOT says a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists could be built as part of the FM 812 widening project planned for the next decade.
But a smaller, short-term effort to fix FM 812 is coming soon. TxDOT is planning to repave and re-stripe a section of the road to add a center turn lane.
That $1.2 million project will span from FM 973, which is west of SH 130, to Elroy Road east of Circuit of the Americas. The project is scheduled to start this month and should take about two months to complete, TxDOT said.
Longer term, TxDOT still plans to build a new segment of FM 812 from FM 973 to U.S. Highway 183. But that’s in the early stages.
Construction is slated to start later this year on traffic signals at SH 130 at FM 812, one of the area’s busiest intersections during major events. Right now, there are just blinking yellow lights indicating drivers should slow down and proceed with caution.
Another traffic signal is under construction at Elroy Road and Circuit of the Americas Boulevard, according to a quarterly update from COTA to City Council.
Among the 14,000 fans watching as 78-year-old Mick Jagger strutted the stage at COTA’s Germania Insurance Amphitheater was the local tax man.
Bruce Elfant has been the Travis County tax assessor-collector and voter registrar since 2012. On that particular night, he happened to be on crutches, recovering from a broken ankle.
Things did not go well.
Elfant said upon his arrival, the ADA accessibility tent near the gate was unstaffed. No wheelchairs were available. On his way out, Elfant struggled on crutches to find transportation help getting back to his car.
“We witnessed other people with disabilities who were visibly upset at being told that they would not be transported back to their vehicles until the venue was emptied out,” Elfant wrote in a letter to COTA’s chief financial officer, Anna Panossian.
Elfant said because of the lack of help at the venue, he was forced to walk on crutches more than allowed by his doctor. Both feet became seriously swollen.
In his letter to Panossian, Elfant called for the creation of a disability access task force. COTA did exactly that, creating a committee that includes Elfant, representatives from the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, ADAPT and two members of the Austin Music Commission.
“I’ve been around a while, so this can turn dark in a hurry. But I’m optimistic and hopeful that some good things are going to come out of this,” Elfant told KUT.
The task force had its first meeting in early March and got a tour of the COTA facility. Some members said they were encouraged by the attitude of COTA staff.
“They really took the problems that they encountered very seriously,” Austin Music Commissioner Oren Rosenthal told the commission at its last meeting in March. “When we talked about that Rolling Stones concert, they were embarrassed. They said, ‘Please don’t judge us by this Rolling Stones concert.'”
“PR-wise, it really gave them a black eye, but just personally as professionals, they felt that they had performed poorly, and they take that very personally,” he said.
COTA officials declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this story.
Could public transit help solve some of these transportation problems around Circuit of the Americas?
After the Rolling Stones snafu, the statement from COTA staff – the one that sought to deflect blame – pointed the finger at Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, among others, saying the regional transit agency should “heed the calls” of local elected officials for more public transportation in the area.
Capital Metro officials were surprised to read the statement, because COTA officials had not reached out to the transit agency for help with the event.
Existing demand doesn’t justify a regularly scheduled fixed-route service to Circuit of the Americas, Capital Metro said, given the pressing demands across other parts of its service area.
Capital Metro says providing shuttle service to COTA doesn’t make sense either. Because Capital Metro receives grants from the Federal Transit Administration, it’s severely restricted from competing with private charter bus companies taking groups to COTA.
While it is theoretically possible to ride a bike from Austin to Circuit of the Americas, a 14-mile ride from downtown, the infrastructure is not exactly hospitable to cyclists.
Austinite Tyler Markham participated in a “bike night” that happens most Tuesdays at COTA, giving cyclists a chance to cruise the 3.41-mile racetrack. He took the bus as far as he could and biked the rest of the way.
But riding home to East Riverside in the dark was more perilous than he realized, especially along miles of county roads.
“There’s a few stretches where I had to bike on 50-, 60-mile-an-hour roads that didn’t have shoulders,” Markham said. “Definitely taking your life into your hands a little bit trying to do that … feeling the whoosh of cars going by a couple feet away from you.”
TxDOT “does not have a current construction project for shared-use paths,” the agency said. But they could be built as part of the FM 812 widening project planned for the early 2030s.
The new Elroy Road improvement by Travis County includes a sidewalk and bike lane.
(Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT)
Besides improving infrastructure, COTA organizers could have “soft endings” after concerts – smaller events or attractions that give people a reason to stick around rather than making a mad dash for their cars, said Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation engineering at UT Austin.
COTA announced plans last week to build a “massive amusement park” with more than 30 rides and two large roller coasters, which could give people a reason not to leave right after a show.
Communication is also important. Providing a clear expectation that transportation will be difficult, using more electronic road signs to convey information about traffic flow and road closures, and printing warnings about potential mobility problems in a large font on tickets could help, she said.
“If people are just like, ‘Yeah, I’ll just read a book in my car and wait for this to pass,’ I think that would be helpful,” she said.
But there are no easy substitutes for improved infrastructure.
“Nobody wants to do anything in the middle of the night except drink or sleep,” Kockelman said. “It is a multi-hour exit.”