Austin City Limits in the heart of Austin, Texas is one of the festival scene’s most complete and consistent multi-genre events.
As a Chicago native, Lollapalooza is a highlight of each summer. With festival season wrapping up and cold weather coming soon, we took a trip down to Austin, Texas in 2026 to attend Austin City Limits weekend one. The festival is run by C3 Presents, the same company behind Lollapalooza.
ACL Festival and Lolla often have several overlaps, and not just on their lineups. From the T-Mobile Stage to the BMI Stage, the two festivals are similar in some ways and differ in others. The grounds are much smaller, the Perry’s Tent is gone, and the raucous crowd is toned down a bit. As opposed to a busy 4-day weekend at Lollapalooza, ACL is split between two evenly sized 3-day weekends.
Many of the headliners perform at both festivals. After standout performances from Turnstile, Lorde, The Chainsmokers, and more at Lolla, we noticed the lineup for Austin City Limits 2026 was stacked. This was our first time at ACL since 2018, and the festival was even better than we remembered it.
While we expected hot and sunny weather in Austin, we instead got a forecast of several days of thunderstorms. The torrential downpours only hit before the festival, but the constant cloudy weather and occasional rain meant the grounds quickly turned into a mud pit.
There has been a long list of festivals that recently had to deal with rainy weather, and ACL 2026 is now firmly on that list. Nearly the entire grounds are on a grassy field, so trekking through the venue quickly became a messy and difficult task. During The Chainsmokers Friday evening on the tiny Snapchat Stage, we found ourselves walking through several inches of standing water just trying to find a spot near the front of the crowd.
The mud was no problem for the insane mosh pits at Turnstile earlier on Friday though. The band was clearly feeling the energy, and Turnstile quickly turned into one of our favorite crowd experiences in recent memory. Amyl and the Sniffers was another highlight on Friday afternoon. The hardcore vibes fit nicely at this festival.
C3 Presents did all they could do combat the mud, and they did a great job. By day three, artificial turf was laid down in the muddiest areas and massive piles of mud were swept into the corners of the venue. There were still plenty of mud pits where you could lose a shoe if you weren’t careful, but the park was in good shape all things considered. Compared to the heavy rain we expected, the weather mostly held up throughout the weekend, with only a few light showers early in the day. By weekend two, the mud had fully dried out, making way for dry dirt and dusty air instead.
ACL made us realize just how great a well-executed multi-genre festival really is. There were plenty of great EDM acts that first got us to look into this year’s Austin City Limits lineup, but the live music acts are what really stole the show. After energetic sets from Turnstile and Amyl and the Sniffers on Friday afternoon, typical sets from Skrillex and The Chainsmokers just didn’t compare. Rufus du Sol was a nice headliner on Saturday night, but walking over to Lorde right as “Team” was playing made that one of our favorite sets of the weekend.
Fcukers was a particularly memorable show on Sunday night. They performed at the Tito’s Tent, a stage that is often overflowing with people for the bigger artists. ACL could use some work when it comes to logistics and planning set times, as a packed Tito’s Tent is a very common complaint. Other issues raised included sound and crowd flow problems around the Snapchat Stage.
However, these are only minor complications for a festival that has has consistently delivered across several decades. Zilker Park is a convenient and centrally located park that fits the size and vibe of Austin City Limits perfectly. Coming from visiting Lollapalooza each year, ACL was a satisfying change of pace of a similar quality to its Chicago counterpart.
If you’re looking for an event to visit as summer winds down, it’s hard to think of anything better than Austin City Limits. Austin is a legendary place for live music, and the city shines brightly during ACL. It’s an ideal destination for a festival weekend.
C3 Presents has been producing high quality festivals since the start of the industry’s boom. They’ve expanded to several events in South America as well. With the 2026 season winding down, we’ll be eagerly looking forward to Lollaplaooza and Austin City Limits in 2027 and for many years to come.
Author: @michael__premier
Photos: @thomasbrown802
