ACL Recap, Zilker Park to Close
Well, 2009's Austin City Limits festival was another smash hit. Thousands of locals and visitors descended upon Zilker Park to see bands such as Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, John Legend, and the Yeah Y
eah Yeahs (I took this photo at that amazing show!). The weather on Friday was perfect. However, not all went well.
Tickets were sold out, so the crowds were a overwhelming and it was difficult to access some of the shows. Despite rows and rows of porta-potties, the lines were extremely long (sometimes 15-people deep). Additionally, cell phone signals were very spotty due to the high concentration of people, so it was difficult to meet up with friends.
On Saturday, it rained throughout the day, leaving the recently renovated Zilker Park and (and its concertgoers) wet and muddy. While Sunday's weather was much better, the Zilker Park remained a muddy mess. The city announced that the park will be closed until the end of the month in order for them to clean it up.
What was your reaction to ACL this year? What were your favorite performances?
Comments
We were in Friday & Saturday – yet our favorite was listening to Pearl Jam outside the festival on Sunday! We cruised down the fenceline on the train tracks and could see the screens and light show (no stage without climbing on the fence briefly before getting shut down).
Great show. Clean feet!
It was nice to see the park transformed into a lush green carpet. It made Friday very enjoyable… It was though too crowded. The lines were horrible and the facilities once you got to them were filthy and out of paper – even early in the day. Just too many people I guess. By the end of Saturday, we’d had enough and didn’t venture back inside on Sunday.
overall though…. we’ll do it again next year. And hope it doesn’t rain
I think the organizers would benefit a lot from the Glastonbury festival in the UK. It’s always rainy/muddy and there are unrinals – cutting the lines for portapottys in half for most of the time.
Need more Porta Potties. they completely removed the ones between the entrance and the med tent. They also need to be serviced with toilet paper. and the hand sanitizers have to be refilled like hourly.