Bill and I are attending the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We’ve been going to ACL Fest in Zilker Park for many years now. The music is always great, but the weather can make or break the festival. Friday afternoon was a little hot (high around 90), but the evening was pleasant.
Texas Strong: Harvey Can’t Mess with Texas was an appropriate name for Friday’s benefit concert at the Frank Erwin Center on the UT campus. The first hour of the concert was streamed on YouTube and broadcast on some Texas TV stations. Proceeds went to the Dell Foundation’s Rebuild Texas fund. As of this writing, over $70M had been raised to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
The Texas Tribune Festival was held on the UT campus over the weekend of September 22-24, 2017. This annual event was sponsored by The Texas Tribune, a non-profit media organization that informs Texans on statewide issues. More than 60 sessions were offered, plus podcast tapings, keynote addresses, and various receptions. The sessions were grouped by themes: Trump: Year One, Politics & the Media, Transportation, Energy & the Environment, Diversity & the Law, Health Care & the Economy, Public & Higher Education, 2018, and Cities.
Austin joined cities around the world to celebrate PARK(ing) Day on the third Friday in September. During this annual event, citizens, artists and activists transform metered parking spaces into Park(ing) spaces to emphasize the need for more public green spaces.
About 40 museums participated in this year’s Austin Museum Day, an annual afternoon of free admissions and family-friendly activities. As usual, I tried to see museums that I’ve never visited, but that list keeps getting shorter and shorter. My strategy was to start downtown and then head eastward.
The Austin Firefighters Association held their annual 9/11 memorial service on Monday morning. Members of the Austin Fire Department along with local officials gathered at the Buford Tower on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake. A huge American flag was hoisted by Ladder Truck #1 on nearby Colorado Street.
The Austin Ice Cream Festival is one of the few outdoor events that Bill and I are willing to attend here in August. This festival was held last Saturday at Fiesta Gardens in East Austin. When we arrived around 10:30 AM, temperatures were already in the 90s.
How sweet to be a cloud. Floating in the blue! —– A. A. Milne
Photographed over Austin, Texas on June 25, 2017
Forever Bicycles is a new outdoor installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. This stunning piece is located along the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail near the Waller Creek Boathouse. It is presented by The Contemporary Austin in collaboration with the Waller Creek Conversancy.
Bill and I love food tastings, so we decided to try Taste of North Austin in The Domain, a huge outdoor shopping area that’s north of downtown. Although this event is in its tenth year, this was our first visit. We each purchased a wristband with ten little plastic tabs to be exchanged for tastings.