Category Archives: Festivals

Texas Book Festival: 2012

Posted on by
Reply
IMG_6563-001
The annual Texas Book Festival is near the top of my “Why I Love Austin” list. For two entire days, I’m in book-lovers’ heaven as TBF takes over the Texas State Capitol and the surrounding area. I try to attend as many of the free sessions as possible. Much to my delight, the 2012 schedule was heavy on biographies, histories and current events (mostly politics). The Food Network stars who were so omnipresent last year were nowhere to be seen this time. Superstorm Sandy impacted the weekend even here in Texas: several authors had to cancel their appearances and my visiting friend left early to get back to her home in Pennsylvania.

ACL Day 2: 2012

Posted on by
Reply
IMG_6378-001

Austin City Limits Music Festival continued with an overcast day on Saturday. This kept temperatures in the 70s with an occasional sprinkle…until around 5:30 PM when two downpours came through Zilker Park. Bill and I had decided to walk over to Chuy’s on Barton Springs Road so we were dryly eating Tex-Mex during the worst of the rain. Zilker Park was very muddy after the rain but not as bad as the ACL Mud Fest of 2009.

Continue reading →

Batfest: 2012

Posted on by
1

Last evening thousands of Austines turned out for Batfest, celebrating the colony of  Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Even though Adam West did not attend this year’s event, there was still plenty of live music, unhealthy food, bat paraphernalia, and bat watching stretched across the bridge.

Bill and I can now confirm with certainty that…
…more people come to Batfest when temperatures are under 100 degrees.
…there may be different models of Batmobiles but all are black.
…bat rings can peacefully coexist with other animals.
…the bat tatoos were of the temporary wash-off type.
…cool bat-inspired costumes don’t have to involve capes. 

Formula One Expo

Posted on by
Reply

Last weekend Bill and I visited the Formula One Expo at the Austin Convention Center. This event was intended to drum up excitement and ticket sales for the Formula One United States Grand Prix to be held outside of Austin from November 16-18. Twenty F1 races are taking place around the world this year but only two of these are in North America: this Austin race and one held in Montreal earlier this month.

We were welcomed to the Expo by a knowledgeable guy who explained that 24 drivers (two each from 12 teams) compete on a race weekend. Practice runs are held on Friday and early Saturday; qualifying runs take place later on Saturday. Then the actual Grand Prix race (190 miles) happens on Sunday afternoon. He said that F1 cars average about 200 mph, reaching maximum speeds of 220 mph. A point system is used to determine world championship winners for both drivers and their supporting teams. 
November’s race will be run on a new Circuit of the Americas track which is being built about 10 miles east of downtown Austin. For several years, the Austin American-Stateman has reported on various controversies with funding, access, permits, and complaints from neighbors. (See this recent New York Times article, Formula One Track, Nearing First Race, Gets a Wary Embrace from Austin for an accurate description of the mixed feelings in Austin.) Construction work is now moving at a fast and furious pace. The track owners (different from the Formula One people) plan to host other races and events including outdoor concerts at the site. A 5K “running of the track” is already planned for November 3. That sounds like fun although I would be worried about the “130 FT ELEV CHG” and the logistics of trying to run on a banked track.
Mario Andretti was recently announced as an “ambassador” for Circuit of the Americas. One of his famous race cars, Lotus 79, was on view at the Expo along with other vintage F1 cars.
Over 120,000 racing fans are expected to attend this fall’s Grand Prix. Austinites are already being warned to expect huge traffic jams. Some companies are even offering helicopter rides out to the track. General admission tickets (with seating on the grass berms) are $159 for the weekend. Reserved bleacher seating starts at $269. For premium grandstand seating…well, you need to fill out a form and a sales representative will call you.

Bill and I left the Expo knowing a lot more about F1 racing than before. We admired the shiny race cars, peered inside engines, and studied the track layout. But did this make us want to actually purchase tickets to see the race? Nope.

2nd Street Soundcheck

Posted on by
Reply
The 2nd Street District partnered with two non-profits, Whole Planet Foundation (related to Whole Foods) and Comfort the Children International, to host 2nd Street Soundcheck this afternoon. The goal of this free event was to “unify Austinites and spark local-to-global change.”
Three blocks of Second Street were closed to traffic near our apartment building. A good-sized crowd perused booths which mostly sold jewelry, food, or clothing from nearby businesses. The non-profit partners also staffed informational booths. 
Bands played on the two stages that were set up at the opposite ends of Second Street.  Bill kept wandering downstairs to hear the bands but I was away for much of the afternoon and only caught the last two bands. Polica had an unusual group of musicians: a (talented) female vocalist, a bass guitarist, and two drummers. But we liked their set. We also enjoyed listening to Rogue Wave, an indie-rock band from California.
Outside the ACL-Live/Moody Theater, festival-goers were invited to help paint a large mural. Billed as “a social experiment to encourage community access to the creative process,” these big, colorful canvases are being created at various events around town and will later be sold to benefit a teen leadership/mentoring non-profit, Explore Austin.

A Taste of Health: Austin Chef Showdown

Posted on by
1
Today Bill and I walked over to the Taste of Health: Austin Chef Showdown at the Mexican American Cultural Center. The Mayor’s Health and Fitness Council sponsored this free event to promote local restaurants that serve healthy entrees. Fifteen chefs competed.
The Showdown rules included: no fake food, no trans-fat or hydrogenated oils, no added sugar or sweeteners, and use of lean, low-fat or reduced-fat protein. At least half of the entree had to be vegetables.   
Bill and I spent a half-hour wandering around the different tents and tasting the free samples. Several hundred people were there when we were, but the chefs were prepared and there were no long lines at any of the booths. Austinites usually come out in droves for free food so I suspect this wasn’t well-publicized. But I’d say the organizers met their goal since we now have a few more restaurants that we want to try.
Celebrity judges awarded prizes for Fast Food, Kid’s Food, Tex-Mex, Southern Cooking and Other. The public also voted to award Best In Show. Since we had arrived early, we  did not stay until the end to hear who won. Here’s the three restaurants that I voted for:
Judges’ Hill: Mesquite smoked pan seared salmon
 
 Galaxy Cafe: Asian seared tuna salad
Hoover’s: RawBella Platter (Black-eyed peas wrap)