Cancel those lunch plans: tickets for the first annual Austin Food & Wine Festival go on sale Tuesday, January 24 at 12:00 PM sharp. more ›

Considering that some of the best writing and edgiest creativity in the arts now takes place on the small screen, it’s only fitting that a festival showcasing the best and brightest television contributions is happening in a city that knows a thing or two about throwing a blockbuster event. more ›

This afternoon at Uchiko, C3 and Food & Wine announced the schedule for the inaugural edition of the Austin Food & Wine Festival, which will be held from April 27-29. The festival replaces the much-loved but often financially challenged Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival. C3 engaged chefs and restauranteurs Tyson Cole (Uchi), Tim Love (Lovesome Dove, Ft. Worth), and Jesse Herman (La Condesa) as partners in the festival, and each of those restaurants is featured prominently on the event schedule. more ›

Fun Fun Fun Fest burst into the world on an unusually cold December weekend, but the bands compensated by playing extra hard. Steve Hopson captured the sights including The Octopus Project, Spoon, Peaches, Riverboat Gamblers, Circle Jerks and the Black Angels. more ›

Although it may seem like an odd choice, my fondest memory from Fun Fun Fun Fest in the two years I've been has to be "Weird Al" Yankovic's festival kickoff set last year. For me, it was one of those performances I didn't know I had to experience until after it was over more ›

The Tribune has announced the inaugural Texas Tribune Festival, taking place September 24-25 on the University of Texas campus. The event will gather hugely influential names in politics and public policy together to discuss a variety of topics like energy, environment, education, immigration, health and more. General admission will give folks access to "two full days of interactive events, lively panel conversations and absorbing lectures." Local food truck vendors will be on hand. Tickets are on sale July 11 and are $125, but the Texas Tribune member price is $100, and $50 for students. more ›

Last September, Texas Monthly dipped a toe in the food festival waters with their first-ever BBQ Festival. The results were unsurprisingly delicious - 20 of the state's best 'cue spots turned up with mobile smokers and cutters to deliver the goods to the sold-out crowd, who basked in a multi-hour meat coma on the Long Center Terrace. The only problem? The organizers erred so far on the side of caution that the 1,000 tickets available sold out in days (they were trying to prevent long lines) - and pitmasters actually had more food than people to serve it to! For this year's second edition, the magazine has learned that they can accomodate far more BBQ enthusiasts, and is making everything bigger the second time around: more food, more sides, and more guests. more ›

Austin's pants just got a little bit fancier. Food & Wine magazine has adopted Austin as the next destination in its series of internationally renowned food and wine festivals, which means we'll join the likes of the Aspen Annual Food & Wine Classic and The New York City Wine & Food Festival. C3, producers of the Austin City Limits Festival and Lollapalooza, are joining with award-winning chefs Tyson Cole (Uchi) and Tim Love (The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro), as well as restaurateur Jesse Herman (La Condesa), to put on the Austin Wine & Food Festival, which will take the place of the 26-year-strong Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival. more ›

Roland Swenson, managing director of SXSW, took some time yesterday to respond to Audrie San Miguel's Op-Ed over at The Horn. San Miguel is the owner at Prototype Vintage and co-producer of Fashion Freakout each year. She is also instrumental in helping support dozens of events around town year long. In her piece for The Horn, she stressed that this year's incidents had once again raised red flags for SXSW promoters who seek to deter free, rogue events taking place during the official festival. more ›

Austinist is proud to once again work as a media partner with the Texas Hill Country Wine + Food Festival. On Tuesday, festival organizers announced the event lineup and immediately placed tickets on sale. Before going any further, it's worth noting that there's currently a 26% early bird discount on Sunday Fair tickets, so you might want to head to the ticketing site today and buy a pair before they run out, as the discount is limited to the first 500 buyers. more ›

On Monday night, the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival will announce the lineup for their 26th year. Tickets for over two dozen events will go on sale on Tuesday, February 8th to the public. For now, the event lineup is a secret, but festival president Cathy Cochran-Lewis emailed us the following tidbit this morning: "Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival saw the need to create the nation’s ultimate beef event, and what better place to do that than in Texas? A dozen chefs from across the country will host the first annual Live Fire! Event vying for beef supremacy and master of the flame bragging rights. The festival’s newest signature event will include live fire cooking at the famed TDS Exotic Game Ranch on Friday, April 1. Reigning Cochon 555 NYC champion Brad Farmerie, Beard finalist and Thai-food wizard Andy Ricker from Portland, and a slew of Austin’s hottest chefs will take fire to meat for a one-of-a-kind, flame-and-smoke party. Tickets will go on sale Feb. 8 for $75, and only 400 tickets will be available." more ›

If you've ever been interested in the inner workings of the South by Southwest festival, or if you'd like to attend but simply don't have the cash for a badge, the festival has just issued their annual call for volunteers. Volunteers are a backbone of the festival, and the fest will trade you some perks (passes, wristbands, and the like) for working volunteer shifts during the event. more ›

While decidedly over the top, Wes Eisold's theatrical brand of nihilism may well be the greatest thing to happen to this type of music since Robert Smith teased up his hair. more ›

Now that the temperature outside has become truly oppressive, it's going to take something pretty freaking cool to lure Austinites out of our air conditioning. Lucky for us, the Austin Ice Cream Festival is just that something. This Saturday, August 14, the Austin Ice Cream Festival comes to Waterloo Park for the fourth year in a row. The frosty fest boasts more ice cream-related activities than you can shake a popsicle stick at, including a screaming contest, a homemade ice cream making contest, and faux snow courtesy of local nonprofit Girlstart.

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Photos by Steve Hopson from this weekend's annual Eeyore's Birthday Party at Pease Park. more ›

In case you foodies on a budget haven't purchased your tickets to the Texas 25 event at Whole Foods Rooftop on April 15, get moving. Festival organizers have informed us that fewer than 30 tickets remain for the low tariff ($25) event featuring wine from Clos du Bois, Hogue Cellars, Kim Crawford, and Robert Mondavi, along with food, snacks, and cocktails from a variety of Texas purveyors. Tickets are available here. more ›

For those considering events at the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, organizers tell us that the Thursday Savor The Hill Country luncheon at Stone House Vineyard and the Saturday cooking class with New Orleans chef John Besh each have fewer than a dozen tickets remaining. So act fast or miss out. The festival runs from April 15-18 at multiple venues across Austin - tickets are available here. more ›

After hosting four years of free parties over at Ms. Bea's on East 6th street, New York-based indie rock promoter Todd P must have a bee in his bonnet. He's given up on doing unofficial SX shows (for 2010, at least) and has put together a rather impressive festival near Monterrey, Mexico to be held during and just after SXSW on March 20-22. more ›

On Monday, the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival announced their event schedule for the 25th Anniversary edition, to be held from April 15-18 at venues across the Austin Metro area. While there is much to discuss, it seems prudent to tip you to two big events with budget admission prices that may sell out quickly. more ›

While wine tastings are a regular event in Austin and beer events are becoming more common thanks to Zax and The Ginger Man, there aren't many opportunities to sample spirits side by side. We've tasted a few tequilas or rums on occasion at the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, but a comprehensive array of one spirit is a pretty rare thing. On Thursday evening, the Penn Field location of Opal Divine's hosts their seventh Whisky Festival - and experts will infer from the spelling that Opal's is focusing on Scotch whisky, which drops the "e" from the American and Irish versions. more ›

In a blitz of blood spatter and body counts, the Alamo Drafthouse and Ain't It Cool News today released a portion of the sure-to-be incredible program for the 5th annual Fantastic Fest, which will burn down the South Lamar location in a cinematic firestorm September 24 - October 1, 2009. more ›

This year's Chaos In Tejas Fest provided an early summer ode to all things loud and noisy, and proved to be an exceptional kick-off to what is shaping up to be a great summer of live music. Here's a wrap-up covering highlights from the diverse strains of punk, hardcore, and indie featured this year. more ›

Usually by this time in January, the rumor-mongering and hype about SXSW has reached a fever pitch. PR people are playing coy, bands are surprising fans via MySpace announcements, and dayshows begin to rear their heads. But with the economy in a tailspin, the Obama inauguration, and people's minds generally on weightier things, the buzz about SX '09 is understandably sedate. It didn't hurt that SX organizers went ahead and threw out a list of over 1,000 participating acts in mid-January, stopping the profileration of unofficial lists before they really got too far along. Some notable items from the past couple of weeks: more ›

We mentioned this a while ago (and you follow that link for the full line-up), but we're giving you another opportunity to win tickets today. Just fill out the form below the cut and we'll get back to you soon should you be picked. We're choosing three winners this round, and there will only be one more chance before the festival kicks off this weekend to win, so get in while the gettin's good. more ›

Here at Austinist, we were thrilled to be asked by ACL Fest organizers to pick a handful of sleeper picks from the Friday lineup. After all, you don't really need anyone to tell you to catch David Byrne or G. Love; you need someone to recommend a couple of names you might not know. And hey, if you already knew everyone playing on Friday, you're in the wrong line of work (give us a ring). more ›

Austinist is happy to announce this year's line-up for the Fun Fun Fun Festival happening at Waterloo Park on November 8 & 9. Once again, we're proud media sponsors, and will be bringing you all the news and coverage you'll need to be prepared for two incredibly packed days of music. more ›

This year, ACL Fest is hosting quite a few official after parties and shows, featuring the talents of Gnarls Barkley, Manu Chao, the Butthole Surfers, Conor Oberst, Bill Callahan and Jose Gonzalez just to name a few. more ›

Heads up, film fans! The Austin Film Festival may still be several weeks away, but the reels of independent cinema are definitely in motion. more ›

Today, we're happy to announce that punk legends DOA will be on the bill (does this mean we might get a surprise spoken word performance from Jello Biafra, too?), as well as DJ Z-Trip (that's a YouTube link featuring Z-Trip and Beck together at Coachella. Does that mean ... ) and Minus the Bear. more ›

Local label Chicken Ranch Records has a lot going on. the Yuppie Pricks have just released their new full-length, Balls (one look at the cover might explain the title choice), Mr. Lewis & the Funeral Five are about to hit the road for a short tour, and the label itself has been invited to showcase at Next Big Nashville in mid-September. They plan to feature The Clutters, We Were The States, Willie Heath Neal and Tiger! Tiger! more ›