Austin is one of four finalists—along with Detroit, Charlotte, and Chicago—competing to host the summer X Games starting in 2014. If selected, the Austin event would be held at the Circuit of the Americas race track, the new home of the Formula 1 US Grand Prix that’s east of downtown. In support of Austin’s bid, the organizers hosted an X Games rally in front of the Texas State Capitol when ESPN executives visited earlier this month.
The 2013 Austin Food & Wine Festival, sponsored by Food & Wine magazine, was held at Butler Park during the last weekend of April. The festival was moved to the grassy area next to the Palmer Events Center due to the poor condition of last year’s location, Auditorium Shores. Saturday’s festival hours were 10 AM – 4 PM, with shorter 11 AM – 3 PM hours on Sunday. The weekend weather was comfortable, with highs in the 70s.
Fortunately, the weather was perfect for Taste of Texas, the opening outdoor event for the Austin Food & Wine Festival. Attendees visited a fenced-in Republic Square Park from 7-9:30 PM, sampling dishes prepared by over 20 chefs (mostly from Texas) and listen to music by Whiskey Shivers and Delta Spirit.
Spring weekends in Austin are typically jam-packed with activities, and last weekend was no exception, with the Austin Food & Wine Festival and the Moontower Comedy Festival in town. Both festivals required badges and, for the most part, did not sell tickets to individual events. Probably a few hardy souls attended both, but most of us had to choose between stuffing our faces or tickling our funny bones for the weekend.
Tails were a-wagging at Auditorium Shores last weekend for the 15th annual Mighty Texas Dog Walk. Local TV stations reported that 10,000 canines participated in this benefit for non-profit Service Dogs, Inc. While that count seems quite high to me, I would agree that a lot of dogs walked the one-mile route on Riverside Drive.
Community street bands have descended on Austin this weekend for the annual HONK!TX festival. Twenty-three bands are participating, including nine from the Austin area and one from Vancouver, British Columbia. Bands range from four to 40 members with a variety of musical influences including New Orleans brass bands, European klezmer, Brazilian Carnaval, and drum lines. Some groups have political goals, but most seem to be former band nerds who still like to get together and play their instruments.
With the Austin skyline as a backdrop, hundreds of kites flew above the great lawn of Zilker Park during the 85th annual Zilker Kite Festival. Although it was only the first Sunday in March, organizers couldn’t have hoped for a more perfect kite-flying day: warm, sunny, and breezy, with afternoon temperatures reaching the low ’70s.
The Cowboy Breakfast just keeps getting better and better every year. Once again this annual event was held at Auditorium Shores on the first Friday in March. The free breakfast publicizes the upcoming Star of Texas Rodeo Austin, which is held outside of downtown at the Travis County Expo Center in the second half of March.
The Austin Convention Center had something for everyone this weekend. I’ve already written about QuiltCon in my previous entry. My QuiltCon ticket plus $4 admitted me to the Austin RV Expo down the hall as well. What a deal!
QuiltCon is happening over at the Austin Convention Center this weekend. The conference includes workshops, lectures, and discussion panels all related to quilting, but the public can just browse the exhibition floor for $10 a day. Continue reading