For the third time in seven years, QuiltCon was back at the Austin Convention Center. Presented by The Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon is the biggest modern (vs. traditional) quilting show in the world. I had attended the Austin shows in 2013 and 2015. These shows just get better and better each time.

The annual Texas Book Festival was held in and around the Texas State Capitol this past weekend. Sessions took place inside the Capitol building and under huge, white tents on 11th Street, Colorado Street, and Congress Avenue. Nearby church sanctuaries were also used for the most popular authors. Since the Paramount and State theaters were being used for the Austin Film Festival, the most popular authors spoke in nearby churches.

Weekend One of the 2019 Austin City Limits Music Festival was a real scorcher. I’m not only talking about the music (great, as usual), but also the weather. Afternoon temperatures reached 96°F, 97°F, and 99°F for the three days. Bill and I attended ACL Fest on Friday, and we can testify that the heat was brutal for the musicians as well as for the festival goers.

This was my third year at the Texas Tribune Festival, and without a doubt, 2019 was the biggest and most interesting Festival. The overarching topic was last week’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Once again, TribFest was centered on and around Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. I saw four of the five Democratic presidential candidates who attended the Festival: Pete Buttegieg, Beto O’Rourke, Michael Bennet and Julian Castro. (I missed Amy Kobluchar.) I saw one US Senator (Ted Cruz), one US Representative (Michael Bennet), one 2019 UN Environment award winner (Katharine Hayhoe), several Texas state legislators, and lots of journalists and pundits.

The annual statewide Lego convention, Brick Fiesta, rotated back to Austin last week. Since the last show held here in 2015 (so long ago now!), I have been dutifully dragging Bill to every Lego movie. Sometimes I spontaneously start singing Everything is Awesome. I search out Lego stores and am especially fond of the one in NYC’s Rockefeller Center. So I was pumped to see the latest Brick Fiesta exhibition. And I was not disappointed, even though I might have been the only adult visitor without children.

The 2018 Texas Book Festival was bigger and better than ever. This free annual event benefits Texas libraries. The Festival was primarily held in the Texas State Capitol and under large tents in the surrounding streets. Some of the more popular sessions were located in the nearby Paramount Theater and First United Methodist Church. Once again, the CSPAN tent was set up on 12th Street with a view of the Capitol building in the background. The Children and Young Adult tents stretched southward on Congress Avenue for several blocks. The weekend weather was beautiful. The Festival was crowded on Saturday, but not so much on Sunday. Here’s who I saw at this year’s Texas Book Festival:

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Dark rain clouds periodically surrounded the Austin City Limits Music Festival at various times on Sunday afternoon, but each threat passed by with just some sprinkles. The sun was shining for our only must-see performer of the day: Janelle Monáe. What a set! Bill and I also liked The Revolution (Prince’s band) and Phoenix.

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