The city of Austin will team up with private investors to save some of the city’s most iconic — and increasingly economically distressed — music venues through a new program announced prior to Thursday’s City Council meeting. Mayor Steve Adler announced the forthcoming creation of a $10 million municipal “minibond,” the creation of which will be […]
Music & Entertainment
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Austin’s ‘big three’ parks to see fewer events
The number of festivals and large events at Austin’s highest-profile public parks could decrease in the coming years if City Council follows through on recommendations expected from the Parklands Events Task Force. Shifting usage away from the city’s “big three” parks – Zilker Park, Auditorium Shores and Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach in […]
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Saving Austin music with words, if not dollars
Of the many long looks, panel discussions and reports that have examined the fragile state of Austin’s music economy and culture over the past 18 months, few were as fortunately timed as last week’s guest lecture/panel event “The Crisis in Music: Austin Edition.” Organized by the Front Porch public church group and held at All […]
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Special events could see added fees, scrutiny to lower city’s price tag
Organizers of many of the more than 800 special events held in Austin every year are likely to see increased costs and oversight in the years to come, especially for large-scale events that require street closures and place other significant demands on city infrastructure. A new report from the city’s Financial Services Department, Management Services […]
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SXSW touts $325M economic impact for Austin
According to Mayor Steve Adler, South by Southwest is more than just a cash cow. In an evocative metaphor at yesterday’s annual reveal of the festival’s economic contribution to the city, he likened the festival instead to “a herd that comes to our city” every year. This year, like the year before it and the […]
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Could more tourist spots benefit from hotel tax?
Austin residents are no strangers to big local events and, increasingly, neither are out-of-towners – but all of those visitors can take a toll on the city’s infrastructure. City Council is set to consider a plan that could direct more funding toward facilities affected by tourism. The money would come from something called the Hotel […]
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Smoking ban gets fogged at Music Commission
A preliminary proposal to ban smoking on all patios in Austin was met with pushback and prompt backpedaling at a meeting of the Music Commission on Monday. Proposed by Central Health, a taxpayer-funded district in Travis County, a potential amendment to Austin’s smoking ban was expected to come before City Council in late 2016, according […]
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Music Commission recommends new policies to rescue Austin’s music industry
Austin’s music industry is hoping for a new era of cooperation with city government, and the Music and Creative Ecosystem Recommendations are meant to kick-start these long-awaited changes. At a special meeting of the city’s Music Commission on July 12, a packed room of music industry professionals and city officials came together for their last […]
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Hoping new music festivals will come to Austin? Look east, where the cows are
Steps past a motorized gate and calf-deep in dung-spotted grass, Rick Cofer looks upon the acres of land that make up John Treviño Jr. Park. The entire park, Cofer says, is 330 acres. Yards in front of him, a herd of cows seek shade on a Texas summer afternoon. “One day (this) might be the […]
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Music Commission narrows omnibus priorities
Austin’s Music Commission managed to prioritize some of the “kitchen sink” initiatives put forward by the Austin Music and Creative Ecosystem Omnibus Resolution during its Monday night meeting. But while stakeholders shared multiple recommendations for potential music industry best practices, most commissioners stated that a potential code change was their top priority. On March 3, […]
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Can the city save Austin’s arts and music scenes?
Scores of musicians, artists and patrons of the creative economy filled a room at the Marchesa Hall & Theatre on Tuesday to share their thoughts on how the city can better support the arts. The occasion was a joint meeting of the Arts Commission and the Music Commission. Members of the two city panels acknowledged […]
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Surf park looking to avoid wipeout over permitting dispute
A massive facility east of Austin and touted as North America’s first inland surf park is proving to be a gnarly conundrum for Travis County officials. The central problem is the legal definition of a pool and whether Nland Surf Park’s massive man-made lagoon should be permitted as one. The county says the lagoon is […]