Twice a year, in September and May, the Pecan Street Festival closes six blocks of East Sixth (Pecan) Street from Brazos Street to the I-35 service road. The spring 2016 version of this popular, free festival fell on Mother’s Day weekend, so festival vendors offered lots of options to show a mom some love…
Mount Bonnell is one of the most popular tourist destinations around Austin. The summit is about 780 feet above sea level and has panoramic views of Lake Austin. For many years this was the highest point within city limits, but that’s no longer true due to annexations.
Art City Austin is an annual fine arts festival sponsored by Art Alliance Austin. This year’s festival was held at the Palmer Events Center and attracted over 100 artists from around the country.
Thousands of hippies—old and young—celebrated Eeyore’s Birthday Party last weekend. This free outdoor event honoring Winnie-the-Pooh’s donkey friend started back in 1963 as a UT English Department picnic. Since 1974, the party has been held every year in Pease Park on the last Saturday of April or first Saturday of May (depending on the weather).
Almost two years ago, I first posted a blog entry about the City-Wide Garage Sale. At that time, I wrote, “A return visit is probably not in my future.” Well, I was wrong. Since then, I’ve returned several times to this big indoor yard sale over at the Palmer Events Center. I’ve never bought a single thing. But, it’s sure fun to look because you never know what might be there…
A huge crowd turned out for Saturday’s Austin Earth Day Festival. Mueller Lake Park was looking lush and green after an entire week of rain. Temperatures were a little warm in the sun, but quite comfortable in the shade.
In spite of last weekend’s damp and rainy weather, both people and plants stayed dry at the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society’s Spring Show. I had decided to visit the show at the Zilker Botanical Gardens between storms on Sunday afternoon and was very glad to find out that everything was set up indoors.
The Texas Military Forces Museum is located near the parade grounds at Camp Mabry. I have always wondered about this museum while sitting in Mopac traffic, so I was glad to finally visit. The base’s entrance is actually on West 35th Street, but the guards will direct visitors over to the museum building.
The 2016 People’s Gallery is now on display at Austin City Hall. This 12th annual exhibition features over 150 pieces created by about 100 local artists. Through October 30, you can visit City Hall and vote for your three favorite pieces. The city will then buy the winning artwork to add to their permanent collection. Don’t let me influence your ballot, but here are some entries which caught my eye…
Community street bands from across the US—plus one from Russia—gathered in Austin last weekend for the sixth annual HONK!TX. Over 25 bands participated in the three-day festival. I watched the Saturday afternoon performances centered in and around Hemphill Park, including stages at the nearby Spider House Cafe and Ballroom and Wheatsville Co-op.