Austin City Limits Roundup

Anyone headed to Austin Limits Music Festival (ACL)  this year? Here are some past articles to get you prepared if you are going.

ACL Essentials
ACL Insider Tips
ACL The Eco Way

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Austin City Limits Music Festival The Eco Way

My husband and I have been attending Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival for many, many years now and LOVE going. Last year I wrote this post on what some of my ACL essentials were. This year I wanted to focus on some of their eco aspects like:

• ACL Cares program where they have various organizations there for others to support. 
• Rock and Recycle Program a recycling program where you can recycle cans throughout the festival for your chance to get a t-shirt.
• ACL art market where you can pick up goodies from local Austin artists. 
• Food features some of Austin's favorite local eats.
• They encourage biking there, carpooling and using the shuttle buses.
• They have refillable water bottle stations.
• Taken from their website: "Keeping Zilker Park and the planet healthy and around for future generations are key missions of the Festival. From the use of biodiesel run generators to diverting waste from the landfill and fan education and outreach, ACL is committed to minimizing its carbon footprint both during the Festival and throughout the year. Here are more ways in which ACL strives to lessen its environmental impact…"

Here are some things you can do to be more eco:

• Bring a refillable water bottle.
• Use a solar charger. Like Solio or this one.
• Use eco sunscreen like one of these options or these options.
• Use eco deodorant like this one or an Austin favorite like one of the ones in this post. 
• Download the festival map on your phone instead of grabbing a paper one. 

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Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) Essentials

My husband, Bryan, and I have been going to Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) for years. In all honesty he is not much of a music festival / concert person, but he does these things for me because I love it. I wanted to highlight some things for us that have been helpful and useful throughout the years of going. As you can see in some of the photos there are a few things I initially left out of the main photo that are very important and you will see in photos below.  Here are some things we like to bring.

• Wristbands.
• Backpack.
• Sunscreen.
• Sunglasses.
• Phone. You can check Twitter for giveaways while you are at the festival.
• Empty Water Bottle. There are fill stations throughout Zilker. Stay hydrated.
• Tarp and Ponchos. This is in case it starts raining, which it has various times throughout the years.
• Comfortable Clothes and Shoes. You will walk a lot. I try to wear sandals or flip flops in case they get wet it can dry fast.  Same with clothing, you want fast drying cloths if it rains. I am more about function than style when it comes to music festivals.
• Hand Sanitizer. Because porta potties are nasty.
• Wipes / Toilet Paper. I will carry these things because you never know how the porta potties will be.
• Cash / Credit Cards. Now you are able to connect your wristband to your credit card, but we still carry one card, cash and our Drivers License.
• Chairs. We usually don’t bring them, but you can if you want.
• Waterproof Bag or Ziploc Baggies. This is in case it rains to keep our phones dry.
• External Phone Charger. We have never brought one in the past, but may this year because usually our phones are running low by the end of the night.

Also, this is a good article of what others recommend to bring http://www.austin360.com/news/entertainment/music/acl-fest-expert-advice/nSYLZ/

Tips while you are at the festival

• Try all kinds of food, it really is good.
• Listen to various acts, you'll be pleasantly surprised on how good many of them are.
• Don't get too wasted and stay hydrated.
• Save to buy your souvenirs for at night so you don't lose them or ruin them. ACL used to have a USPS booth set up where you could ship your items to your home. Not sure if they will have that this year. We always buy a poster and wait to buy it at the end of one evening.
• Take the shuttle if you can. There are so many constantly running and you rarely have to wait long to get on one. The only time we really wait is at night if we stay until the last act finishes up.
• If there is a lull period you don't have any particular bands you want to see leave and then come back. We have done this various times throughout the years. Sometimes we go eat at a nearby restaurant and other times we go back to our rental and take a quick nap.
• If you are renting a condo, a house, or somewhere with a kitchen for the festival bring snacks or frozen food. A lot of times we are hungry when we finish up with the festival and pizza often takes at least an hour to be delivered, if not longer. 
• Have fun!

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The Weekend

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Bryan and I came home from ACL last night. We were originally going to come home today, but decided to leave early. We were sad to leave Austin because unlike many other times we go to ACL this time was really relaxing for us. We tried new restaurants Walton's and the famous Franklins BBQ (we waited 2 hours in line) and it was all delicious. Now onto fall festivities.....

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Music Festival Packing List

Right now Bryan and I are in Austin, TX for Austin City Limits music festival and will be here until Monday. We go just about every year and love it. (Bryan couldn't go last year, so my friend Ashley in NYC flew down to go with me). This year we haven't given it too much thought because we have been so busy, but are excited to be in Austin because we absolutely LOVE Austin. Most of the bands we have seen in the past at ACL or at other venues, but nonetheless still enjoy seeing them, plus we often discover new music we love. 

I feel like every year when there is a picture of me from the festival I have on the exact same thing because every year I pack the exact same thing. Here is what I packed this year.

• Tickets (duh)
• Sunscreen (I'm so pale and don't want to get burnt)
• Sunglasses
• Dresses because they are easy and dry fast if it rains
• A pair of clothes if we decide to go out at night (usually we are exhausted)
• Sandals
• Cash (I hate ATM fees)
• Debit Card (in case I need to go to the ATM)
• ID (for beer of course, plus I look 15)
• Water bottle (You need to stay hydrated in the heat)
• Ponchos (I often forget these, but not this year)

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