Austin is the live musical capital of the world and the ACL festival reciprocates this claim incredibly.

Andrea Ortega, student athlete and cross country runner, describes her experience at the first weekend of the acclaimed festival. When asked about her favorite and least favorite performances she exclaims, “The arctic monkeys was my favorite, my least favorite probably be Metallica.”

Austin and the music festival is famous for housing some of the wackiest sights and diverse people on the planet, when asked about the most notable thing she saw at the festival she brings up the now-famous aerial advertising seen all three days throughout the festival. The plane banner was a big hit amongst festival-goers and is referenced in the new season of hit animated tv show, Big Mouth.

I personally am attending the festival, as an involved musician this is my favorite time of the year and I am completely quaking with excitement. I had attended one day of ACL last year and it was a 8.7/10. The setting is fantastic, being held in zilker park at the heart of Austin. The musicians are the best in the world and possibly the most unique; this year, names such as Metallica, Arctic Monkeys, Travis Scott, Hozier and Brockhampton are playing, all of which will contribute heavily to the live atmosphere.

4 days later..

It’s Monday, post-festival. My face is reduced to a crisp layer of red flaky tissue, my feet have invisible blisters, my mind is still addled, just regular festival repercussions. Over three days of hoppin’ music, my most important giveaway would be to just let go. Discard your care for other people’s opinions, enjoy the moment- you know just the common cliche things. I tend to turn my head towards generic sayings and motives, but after the festival I realize you got to try new things. You have to alter your perspective every now and then or you’ll miss everything. You won’t progress as an individual.

If I can recollect correctly, I went to around 12 shows over three days, all were completely different which is a defining attribute of Austin music. I saw indie groups, rap groups, metal groups, experimental groups, just about everything, and I recommend going to varying genres in order to diversify your taste and musical knowledge. This year, I would give the festival a 9/10. The only grievances I have would be ones that aren’t really controllable, such as the heat, and the frightening amount of people, or the amount of sweat I gathered, etc.

In summation, ACL Fest is an essential for music-goers and anyone who is looking for a different kind of public outing. There will always be new things to see every year- new bands, new festival services, different atmospheres, the list goes on.