It might set off a few red flags to see a “Survival Tips” page on a music festival’s website, but the folks behind the Punx Picnic are nothing if not pragmatic. They’re putting on their Texas-sized punk bash on the Eastest-most side of the East Side: just south of Walter E. Long Lake, where MLK turns into Farm-To-Market Road 969. You can camp out on the Picnic’s bucolic Music Ranch estate and catch over one hundred bands all weekend long. more ›

With one of Austin's favorite outdoor festivals now ten years old, we decided to take a look back at the Austin City Limits Music Festival's Grade School Years. So we rummaged through Austinist photographer Steve Hopson's ACL Tribute page for the highlight photos of mud pits, dust bowls, nosebleeds, grassy lawns, art projects, music lovers and headliners that got us to where we are now. more ›

While all of Austin baked last week, L.A. celebrated its live music capital contributions with the third edition of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. The Festival kicked off with a tribute to Mötley Crüe, one of the many bands who came of age on the Strip, and proceeded to highlight other bands known for performing in the area. more ›

It’s been a little while since our last film fest and it’ll be a few more weeks before the big ones (Fantastic Fest, AFF) begin, so the Lights Camera Help Film Festival is perfectly timed. This small but essential event runs today through Saturday, and it celebrates nonprofit and cause-driven films. more ›

Yesterday we mentioned that there was some Fun Fest news, and today we let you know that a small batch of early bird tickets were being released at 6 p.m. Last year, the early bird tickets were all gone in about an hour and a half - tonight, they went in about 45 minutes. All without even a hint as to what this year's lineup might include. Clearly Austin's "little" festival that could has made great strides in the last couple of years, and we're thrilled to see so much excitement building for November. Naturally Austinist is on board again this year as media partners (along with our good friends at Giant Noise) and we'll have much more information (yes, including breaking lineup news) in coming months. Till then, stay tuned and create your profile at their website - it's probably the best way to stay in touch with the community and get all the latest news. more ›

ACL Fest announced their lineup early this morning. Color us impressed: Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Kanye West, Big Boi, Broken Social Scene, Nas, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Social Distortion, TV on the Radio, The Walkmen, James Blake, Gomez and Randy Newman are just a couple of the impressive folks lined up to perform. This year, the festival happens Sept. 16-18 at Zilker Park. The three-day tickets are already sold out (they went before the lineup was officially announced), but we'll keep you posted on updates should any more tickets for the weekend become available. Single day tickets go on sale this morning at 10 a.m. more ›

Dogfish Head, despite Delaware roots, really does understand Austin. Normal does not excite us. Give us the bizarre, the weird, the off-centered. Give us off-centered beers served up with off-centered films for off-centered people, and make a festival out of it, and we’re there. This year, the Off-Centered Film Fest is bigger than ever, including four quirky and exciting events spanning April 14th-16th. more ›

Día de los Muertos at the Mexic-Arte Museum is Austin's longest-running Day of the Dead festival and features artists, music, and (of course) a grand procession from Saltillo Plaza to the Museum downtown. This year, the 27th edition of the fest took place a week in advance of the actual holiday, but a huge contingent of painted faces, marigolds and sugar skulls turned out for the celebration. Photos by Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com. more ›

Seventy-eight years in a town like Austin is an eternity. For the members of St. Elias Orthodox Church, those seventy-eight years have been an opportunity to share the very best of their culture: namely, food. This Friday and Saturday from 6pm to midnight, the seventy-eighth annual St. Elias Mediterranean Festival will be occurring downtown on 11th Street between Red River and Trinity. Come for the souvlaki, but stay for the hand-rolled cigars.

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Doug Langway's BearCity explores relationships within a group that often doesn't get much recognition in the gay community. The movie had its World Premiere earlier this summer at NEWFEST and has subsequently been a big hit at several LGBT festivals. It even received the Los Angeles Outfest 2010 Grand Jury awards for Outstanding Screenwriting and Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film. Now more ›

There are many highlights on the schedule of the 23rd annual Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, but one of the biggest is the World Premiere of Daniel Alexander's documentary Freeing Bernie Baran. more ›

The Fifth Annual Trans-Pecos Festival is just around the corner. Head out west for a mystical weekend celebration underneath the Marfa skies at rustic campsite and eco-lodge El Cosmico. The two-day celebration of music and love is organized by Liz Lambert’s family of creatives at Bunkhouse, and you can expect a weekend chock-full of Marfa’s unique blend music, art, and camping with a side of daytime recreation. more ›

Jools and Lynda Topp are not the kind of people you meet everyday. These twin sisters are cultural icons in their native New Zealand, and with this entertaining biographical documentary, they’re certainly not people you’ll soon forget. Raised on a dairy farm, they realized early on that they loved to sing…and that they were lesbians. These talented ladies have brought together conservative farmers, radical lesbians, and everyone in between, and given them a place to come together. It’s a touching portrait of two incredibly interesting people that is guaranteed to inspire you…while making you laugh at the same time. more ›

We all need a little spice in our lives and, from August 18 to 31, Central Market's 15th annual Hatch Chile Festival is bringing the heat to Austin. The festival celebrates the pepper with hatch-infused foods like peppery pesto, spicy sausages and even tortillas. more ›

Part of the appeal of Marfa is the journey that one must take to reach the city limits in the first place. There is a certain meditative state that one enters when they spend 7 hours staring a dotted and solid lines on a black surface. Perhaps it's a cleansing process, removing thoughts of where you came from to focus you on the events ahead. Maybe it's the mysticism that surrounds the lovely Davis Mountains. In any case, our trek Wednesday was endlessly refreshing. more ›

Emergency alarms went off just after 5 pm at the Austin Convention Center. Officials quickly determined it was a false alarm, but many on the first day of SXSW Interactive took the opportunity to get an early start on evening parties. more ›

In its eighth year of existence, the No Idea Festival continues in 2010 with performances in Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. The festival brings together improvisational musicians who perform for audiences while learning from and playing with other experimental artists from all over the world. more ›

The Screenwriter's Conference is over and done with, so now it's just down to the films. Here are our picks for Monday at the Austin Film Festival, including some you may have missed the first time around... more ›

Michael Corcoran over at Austin360 managed to get his hands on the contract that C3 made with the city, revealing that the festival producers pay a little under an estimated $100k annually to rent out part of Zilker Park. more ›

Photos of this year's Pride festival, which took place last weekend. more ›

One Community, One Pride is a fitting theme for this year’s Austin Pride, which takes place this weekend. In previous years, Equality Texas handled the Pride Festival while the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce handled the Pride Parade. But in 2008 the two groups worked together to host the events on the same day. Further proving the efficiency of the gay community, this year’s combined event was organized by the community via the Pride Coalition, an AGLCC program that includes seven representative LGBT organizations. more ›

Why is Austinist giving away tickets to Toronto's North by North East festival, you ask? Well, if you're paying close attention, you already know that the festival -- now in its 29th year -- has enough Austin in it to justify our excitement. Not only have they created a sustainable festival that covers music, film and conferences patterned after our own love-child SXSW, they also work hard each year to represent Texas well in their lineup. more ›

Beautiful weather, lots of good music and an Austinite on the ground with her camera: how much better could it get? Pooneh Ghana documented her trip to Coachella, and here's what she brought home. more ›

Austin 360 has confirmed (by cartoon) Pearl Jam as ACL '09 headliners. The band hasn't played in Austin since 1995, and will be supporting the release of their live album, Drop In the Park. We're also anticipating performances from the Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth, seeing as how their scheduled ACL tapings at KLRU are public knowledge, taking place between October 2-4. As for the rest of the lineup, we'll have to hang on until April 28. more ›

This year's Old Settler's Music Festival featured Fred Eaglesmith, the Lovell Sisters, Cindy Cashdollar, Dave Alvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, the Lee Brothers and the Travelin McCoury's, Marc Broussard, Robert Earl Keen and many more. Austinist contributing photographer Steve Hopson was there to catch it all. more ›

The 8th annual Austin City Limits music festival will take place October 2-4 at Zilker Park. Tickets will be available starting April 7, and the full lineup is due for release April 28. more ›

2009's Lolapalooza Festival will take place at Chicago's Grant Park between August 7-9. The lineup (which looks a lot like recent ACL fests) includes Radiohead, Kanye West, Wilco, Cat Power, the National, and Bloc Party. Depeche Mode, the Beastie Boys and a reunited Jane’s Addiction are expected to headline. Tickets are on sale tomorrow, get them here. [Ed. Note: Despite the web site's '2009' label, it appears as though all the information is from 2008. We'll keep you posted as lineup information becomes available.] more ›

The University of Texas' Music & Entertainment Committee's annual Forty Acres Fest is right around the corner, and campus is already buzzing with rumors about this year's headliner. We'll let you in on a secret: you'll know who it is tonight, when MEC posts information about the lineup and headliner on its Facebook page. This year's festival is Saturday, April 7 beginning at 7 p.m., and as always, will take place beneath the UT Tower. more ›

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All photos contributed by staff photographers Eric Uhlir, Nash Cook, Briana Purser, Phive, and Patrick Dentler. more ›