Austin Weekend Guide: September 4-6

Labor Day weekend, and the last real gasp of Austin summer. Texas plays Texas State at 2:30 on Saturday, Bat Fest takes the Congress Avenue Bridge that evening, and ACL is now exactly a month out. Here is how to spend the three days.

Saturday Morning Pick

Barton Springs Pool, 2201 Barton Springs Rd. The water holds at 68 degrees no matter what the air is doing, and on a Labor Day Saturday the lawn fills up early. Get there by 8 am if you want a spot on the south side under the pecans and a parking space that is not a quarter mile walk. There is a free entry window in the early morning before staff are on the gate, roughly 5 to 8 am, after which it runs about $9 for adult non-residents and $5 with an Austin ID. Bring a towel you do not mind sitting on. The grass is patchy by September.

Brunch Worth the Wait

Sawyer & Co at 4827 E Cesar Chavez is a New Orleans diner in a converted East Austin building, and the order is the Cajun breakfast with boudin and a side of grits. Saturday waits run 30 to 45 minutes once you are past 10 am, so put your name in and stand outside with a coffee. If you want something lighter, Elizabeth Street Cafe at 1501 S 1st does Vietnamese and French at 11 am about as well as anyone in town: congee with a soft egg, a kolache, drip coffee over condensed milk. Same wait problem, prettier room. Austin Restaurant Weeks runs through September 14 at more than 100 spots, so check the participating list before you pick.

Live Music This Weekend

Friday the headline show is Johnny Blue Skies at Moody Center at 8 pm, which is Sturgill Simpson touring under his other name. Expect to pay somewhere between $60 and $120 depending on how close you want to sit. Cheaper and smaller: Nate Miller at Stubb's Indoors, doors around 7 pm. Saturday, Bat Fest returns to the Congress Avenue Bridge for its 20th year with live bands, food vendors and a costume contest, and the bats go out around dusk. Gate tickets have typically landed in the $20 to $30 range. If you would rather be in a room than on a bridge, the White Horse at 500 Comal runs two-step lessons early and a band by 10, with cover around $10.

ACL 2026 Is One Month Out

ACL turns 25 this year, back at Zilker Park at 2100 Barton Springs Rd across two weekends: October 2 through 4, then October 9 through 11. Gates at noon, music until 10 pm, nine stages, more than 100 sets. The daily bill is out. Friday runs Labrinth into The Chainsmokers into Charli XCX, with Turnstile and Leon Thomas leading to Kings of Leon on Weekend 2. Saturday is the day to plan around: Young Miko at 4:30, Bleachers at 6:15, Lola Young at 6:30, Levity at 7:15, Lykke Li at 7:30, then Lorde on the T-Mobile stage at 8:15 and Rufus Du Sol on the American Express stage at 8:30. Those two overlap by fifteen minutes, so pick one and commit. Sunday goes Geese and Parcels into The xx, and SOFI TUKKER and The War On Drugs into Twenty One Pilots. On which weekend is better, the honest answer is that the gap is thin. Weekend 1 has Skrillex, Brandon Flowers of The Killers, Underscores and Rebecca Black. Weekend 2 has Kings of Leon and not much else that is exclusive. Recent additions to the bill include Dexter and The Moonrocks, Grace Ives, Jess Williamson and Annie DiRusso. Tickets: three-day GA and GA+ for Weekend 1 are gone, Weekend 2 has a limited number of three-day GA left, and the festival has flagged Weekend 2 Saturday single-day GA as close to selling out. If you have been sitting on the decision, that is your signal.

Sunday Chill

Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller, Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm off Berkman Drive. Get a breakfast taco, walk a lap, buy peaches while there are still peaches to buy. Then cross over to the Mueller Lake Park loop, which is about a mile and mostly flat, and sit on the hill above the water for a while. Low effort, and the whole thing takes 90 minutes if you want it to.

Local Hidden Gem

Sam's Town Point, 2115 Allred Dr, deep in South Austin past Slaughter Lane. It looks like an old lodge hall at the end of a residential street, gravel lot, screened porch, and a stage that has hosted about half the good country and psych bands in this city. Cover is usually $10 or nothing at all. Shows start late and the crowd runs from people who have been coming for thirty years to people who found it last month. There is no real sign out front, so trust your GPS and keep going.

ATX Weekly App Tip

💡 ATX Weekly Tip: Filter the events map to This Weekend before you head out, then tap Save on anything you are considering so it lands in your saved list with the address and start time attached. With ACL a month away, save the October dates now and the app will surface Zilker road closures and shuttle updates as festival week gets closer.