Austin’s Hottest Festival Recap: ACL 2025 Weekend 2

By Britne Goldstein

ACL 2025 Weekend 2

October 10-12, 2025 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

Another year, another ACL weekend that turned Zilker Park into a dusty playground of sound, sweat, and pure Austin energy. The sun was brutal and the dust was flying, but that didn’t stop tens of thousands of music fans from dancing, screaming, and losing their voices to some of the biggest names on the planet. Nine stages meant endless options. Sabrina Carpenter served pure pop star power, Hozier brought the church of soul, The Killers delivered hit after hit, Luke Combs had every cowboy boot stomping, and T-Pain brought us to the club.

Between sets, the festival felt like a choose-your-own-adventure for the overstimulated. The Amex Experience kept fans chill (literally) with photo ops and games, while the Aperol Spritz Piazza offered an Italian oasis of orange-hued cocktails and cute selfies. Tito’s Chillmaster5000 was the real hero, a giant walk-in fridge that turned strangers into best friends. And if you found the BeatBox So Far Out House, congratulations, you stumbled into the secret party and were treated to a heat-pressed fanny pack that somehow became the weekend’s hottest accessory.

And it wasn’t just about keeping cool. The ACL Eats lineup was a culinary tour of Austin’s greatest hits. Veracruz tacos? Legendary. Mighty Cone? Still undefeated. Gati ice cream? The only thing that could make the heat bearable. The Coca-Cola Refresh Lounge offered shade, sips, and selfies, while Topo Chico Hard Cantina and Hacienda Patrón had adults vibing like it was spring break. If you needed a break from the chaos, Miller Lite Bar 75 served WiFi, cold beer, and DJ Jampagne’s smooth jams.

Families weren’t left out either. Austin Kiddie Limits, presented by Lifeway Kefir, kept the little ones painting, dancing, and snacking happily in their own creative corner. The H-E-B Shop & Recycle zone let tiny Austinites live out their grocery store fantasies while learning about sustainability, which is adorable and honestly, very on-brand for this city. Siete Family Foods stole hearts with their daily “Baila Con Siete” dance parties, turning the kid zone into the cutest dance floor in Texas.

In an Artist interview with festival newbie, Ally Salort, who is a rising star on social media, she says she enjoyed Sabrina Carpenter’s set and could imagine herself on a headlining stage as well in a few years. When asked about the difference between singing to a festival crowd vs alone in her room, “it’s weird singing your most vulnerable thoughts with people staring at you, especially in a festival setting, like it’s midday and I’m singing about heartbreak.”

Even with the heat and dust turning everyone a few shades tanner (or dirtier), ACL’s sustainability efforts this year were no joke. ACL’s partnership with the Austin Parks Foundation continues to do real good, from recycling and composting to running the festival on renewable energy and biodiesel. The hydration stations saved millions of plastic bottles from landfills, and

the Rock & Recycle program turned trash collection into a fashion statement with free tees and bandanas. Over $71 million has now gone toward Austin’s parks since ACL first took over Zilker two decades ago, proving that the good vibes echo far beyond the stages.

Austin City Limits once again delivered the perfect mix of chaos, community, and world-class music — and if you survived all three days, congratulations. You’ve earned your honorary Austin badge (and probably a very long nap).

By Sunday night, as the sun dipped low and The Killers fired up “Mr. Brightside,” Zilker Park felt like the center of the universe. Everyone was filthy, sunburned, deliriously happy, and somehow still singing. That’s the magic of ACL. If you survived all three days, congratulations. You’ve earned your honorary Austin badge (and probably a very long nap).