ACL Fest Opening Delayed Due to Overnight Weather

After much concern over the stormy forecast for ACL Fest’s first weekend, the event faces weather delays on its opening day.

Anyone else listening to the new Hovvdy album when they got this news?

This morning, the festival – planned October 1-3 and 8-10 at Zilker Park – released the statement:

“Due to inclement weather overnight and impacts to Zilker Park, gates for the first day of ACL Fest will open at 3pm today. We look forward to seeing you this afternoon. Stay tuned for performance schedule updates.”

Gates were planned to open today at noon, with music starting at 1pm. Alongside the annual tradition of a performance by Asleep at the Wheel, the reschedule impacts set times for local artists like Darkbird, Primo, the Alien, and Nané. National touring acts like Claud, Nothing, Nowhere, and Q may also be impacted.

The Friday lineup times were already slightly scrambled following the cancellation of Jack Antonoff's project Bleachers after a member of the band’s crew was exposed to COVID-19.

Current weather reports project chances of thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday. For those who've been ACLing for a dozen years, the forecast triggers flashbacks to ACL Fest 2009, when heavy rains, combined with heavy foot traffic, resulted in Zilker becoming a veritable mud pit. Only after a weekend of attendees losing their shoes in the muck – and some festers sliding around it – did the public realize that the Great Lawn had been partially comprised of Dillo Dirt, a locally made compost that includes "treated sewage sludge."

Acts that were scheduled to play prior to 3pm have begun making social media posts indicating that they are not going to be rescheduled.