The Austin Calendar

The Austin Calendar

AustinFunStuff.com, $11.97 (10% of proceeds to Keep Austin Beautiful)

It started out as a labor of love, a modest spreadsheet filled with festivals and other can't-miss events that Mike Stefanik kept on his computer, so that whenever planning ahead was necessary – say, when friends were coming into town months down the road – he already knew of a good handful of activities he could count on.

Now, seven years later, that spreadsheet has become the Austin Calendar, which looks and functions like the basic wall variety you find at those mall kiosks, except that it's filled with familiar sights dear to Austinites (the cover, by photographer Merrick Ales, is a classic Pace Bend shot of a cliff jumper in midair), and many of the days are already marked with one or more of the 200-plus events in the works for 2007. Got some friends considering a trip here sometime in June? Well, if they'd enjoy the Texas Greek Festival, they should plan for early in the month; if they'd prefer the Texas Hill Country Railfair, they should put off the trip till late. All of this you can find out with nothing more than the flip of a page. Also convenient is the fact that you'll see right on that page what you'll be missing every time you pencil in your dentist's appointment or your cousin's wedding.

Stefanik for the most part has stuck with the tried and true, so you're guaranteed a packed schedule no matter what. Even better, you can be sure that you've got a scene veteran's stamp of approval on any event included here, with no mincing of words about the drawbacks of going out in Austin ("outrageously hot weather," "lack of parking," and "overpriced beer"). Even on his Top 5 list of favorite activities, he doesn't sugarcoat: "SXSW," he writes. "Expensive, crowded, often overly-hyped, always overly-hip, yet somehow still worth it." Most importantly, this well-designed (thanks to Mackenzie Walsh) and thought-out guide really will help you "keep track of it all," as Stefanik puts it.