Happy Midsummer, y’all!

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will hold its third annual Midsummer Festival this upcoming Saturday, June 29, at the Old Bakery and Emporium downtown from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The festival is free to attend and will feature Swedish treats, a flower crown-making station, a Swedish maypole, hair braiding and face painting and (of course) live music. In addition to the festival proper, the event will also be the setting for the unveiling of a new mural painted by Ruben Esquivel. The mural is part of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation’s Writing on Walls program and the city’s parks department and is the first to be painted on the historic Old Bakery and Emporium. “As part of the Old Bakery and Emporium’s Midsummer Festival, the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation is excited to celebrate the mural installation,” said Raasin McIntosh, VP of Active Urbanism, Downtown Austin Alliance. “The Foundation is honored to work with the Old Bakery Emporium to bring a mural to life honoring the rich history of the area. Writing on the Walls is dedicated to creating art in public spaces in downtown Austin, and we look forward to celebrating the mural with everyone at the Midsummer event.”