Pride marches down Congress after dark, and Austin FC plays across town.

Saturday is the busiest single day Austin has had since spring, and most of it happens after sundown. The Austin Pride Festival runs all afternoon at Fiesta Gardens, then the parade steps off from the Capitol at 8 PM and heads south down Congress under the theme Viva la Resistencia, one of the only major Pride parades in the country that marches entirely at night. Austin FC hosts Philadelphia at Q2 at the same hour, the PBR Team Series sets up at Moody for three days, and the film series keeps running through the end of the month. Tonight, Dallas is at Q2 for Copa Tejas. Next Sunday the university lights the Tower for Gone to Texas, which means the Drag is about to get its traffic back.

The marquee

• Sat Aug 22, festival 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, parade 8:00 PM · Parade free, festival free with advance registration
  Austin Pride Festival and Night Parade
  Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St, then Congress Ave
  The 36th parade, and still the best argument for doing this at night instead of in August daylight. It steps off at the Capitol and runs about a mile and a half south to the Congress Avenue Bridge. The festival earlier at Fiesta Gardens is the quieter half: multiple stages, drag, food trucks, and shade you will want by two o'clock.
• Sat Aug 22, 7:30 PM · From $30
  Austin FC vs Philadelphia Union
  Q2 Stadium, 10414 McKalla Pl
  Back to league play after the Leagues Cup run, and against an Eastern Conference side Austin rarely sees. The scheduling is the catch: kickoff is thirty minutes before the parade steps off, and downtown will be closed to cars. Take the Red Line and pick a lane for the evening.
• Fri Aug 21 to Sun Aug 23 · From $25
  PBR Team Series: Gambler Days
  Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr
  Team bull riding, which is a stranger and better format than the standard tour: five riders a side, head to head, cumulative scores. Three nights in an arena built for basketball, which puts you closer to the dirt than any rodeo grounds would. Friday is the cheapest ticket of the three.

Sunday · Tonight

• 7:30 PM · From $30
  Austin FC vs FC Dallas, Copa Tejas
  Q2 Stadium, 10414 McKalla Pl
  The one that settles the Texas argument for the year, moved to Sunday night for the national window. Red Line to McKalla beats every parking option and it is not close.
• 7:00 PM · $15
  Thief, Summer Classic Film Series
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  Michael Mann's first feature, and the one every heist movie since has been quietly copying. If you are skipping the match, this is the better room to be in.
• 4:00 PM · Free
  Chicken Shit Bingo
  Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, Brentwood
  Cash for beer, a numbered square, and a chicken deciding your afternoon. Inside by 3:30 if you want a seat.
• Open until 10:00 PM · $5
  Evening swim at Barton Springs
  Zilker Park
  Sixty-eight degrees no matter what the forecast says. After 7 PM is still the shortest line of the day.

Monday–Wednesday

• Mon Aug 17, 8:00 PM · $20
  Bob Schneider's Lonelyland
  Saxon Pub, 1320 S Lamar Blvd
  The longest-running Monday residency in town, going on two decades. Arrive by 7:30 for sightlines.
• Tue Aug 18, evening · Check hotel listing
  Dive-In Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean
  Fairmont Austin, 101 Red River St
  A movie projected at a seventh-floor pool deck in the middle of August, which is the correct format for August. Get there early enough to claim a float.
• Tue Aug 18, 8:00 PM · No cover
  Two-step lessons at the White Horse
  500 Comal St, East Austin
  Free lesson, no partner required, band immediately after. Still the best cheap night on the east side.
• Wed Aug 19, evening · Ticketed, around $35
  Sip and Paint at Meanwhile Brewing
  3901 Promontory Point Dr, Southeast Austin
  A craft night on a beer garden patio with food trucks in the yard. Low stakes, and the pilsner is good.
• Wed Aug 19, 7:00 PM and 9:25 PM · $15 each
  The Worst Person in the World, then Pillion
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  A double bill for anyone who wants to feel something on a Wednesday. The 9:25 is the emptier room.
• Nightly, 9:30 PM · $10 or less
  Jazz at the Elephant Room
  315 Congress Ave, Downtown
  The basement weeknight sets remain the underrated version. Cooler, emptier, same players.

Thursday–Friday

• Thu Aug 20, 7:30 PM · $15
  Boyz n the Hood
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  Thirty-five years old and it has not softened an inch. Singleton was twenty-three when he made it.
• Fri Aug 21, 7:30 PM · $15
  Whiplash
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  Ninety minutes of a man being yelled at about tempo, and somehow the most propulsive film of the series. Not a date movie.
• Fri Aug 21, evening · From $25
  PBR Gambler Days opens
  Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr
  Opening night of three. See the marquee, and read the parking guide before you drive to campus on a Friday.
• Fri Aug 21 to Sun Aug 23 · Ticketed at the door
  Austin Area Quilt Guild QuiltFest
  Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd
  Hundreds of quilts hung in a convention hall, which sounds sleepy and is quietly one of the most impressive craft shows in the state. Air conditioned, which counts for something.
• Fri Aug 21, 9:00 PM · No cover
  Friday honky tonk at the White Horse
  500 Comal St
  Three bands, no cover, taco window out back open later than you will be.

Next Saturday

• Sat Aug 22, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM · Free with advance registration, around $20 at the gate
  Austin Pride Festival
  Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St
  Register online in advance and skip the gate line entirely. The shaded edges near the water fill first.
• Sat Aug 22, 8:00 PM · Free
  Austin Pride Parade
  Congress Ave, Capitol to the bridge
  Congress closes well before step-off. The blocks between 9th and 6th get the deepest crowds; south of 4th you can still find curb.
• Sat Aug 22, 7:30 PM · From $30
  Austin FC vs Philadelphia Union
  Q2 Stadium
  See the marquee. If you are doing both this and the parade, the match is the one to leave early.
• Sat Aug 22, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM · Free
  SFC Farmers Market at Republic Square
  422 Guadalupe St, Downtown
  Late tomatoes, early fall greens, and the last of the peaches. Go before eleven, when the shade runs out.
• Sat Aug 22 and Sun Aug 23 · Ticketed
  Austin Home Show
  Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd
  Contractors, cabinets, and a lot of free samples. Useful if you have been putting off a decision since March.
• Sat Aug 22, 3:30 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:55 PM · $15 each
  Father of the Bride, Hero, Lady Snowblood
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  A triple bill with no through line except that all three are worth it. Lady Snowblood at 8:55 is the correct late choice.

Next Sunday

• Sun Aug 23, 8:00 PM · Free
  Gone to Texas
  UT Main Mall, 110 Inner Campus Dr
  The university's convocation for the incoming class, held on the Main Mall with the Tower lit. Open to the public, genuinely moving, and the last quiet night on campus until December.
• Sun Aug 23, 3:30 PM and 7:00 PM · $15 each
  Labyrinth, then Drive
  State Theatre, 719 Congress Ave
  A Bowie matinee and a Refn night drive on the same Sunday. The series has about a week left, so this is the time to use it.
• Sun Aug 23, 4:00 PM · Free
  Chicken Shit Bingo
  Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, Brentwood

What we're drinking this week

• · $11
  Frozen paloma at Cheer Up Charlies
  900 Red River St
  The unofficial living room of Pride week, and the patio holds a crowd better than anywhere else on Red River. Expect a line after nine on Saturday and go earlier than that.
• · $12
  Frozen cocktail at Whisler's
  1816 E 6th St
  Ten minutes on foot from Fiesta Gardens, which makes it the obvious post-festival stop. The mezcal list upstairs is the reason to stay past one drink.
• · $6
  Pearl-Snap Pils
  Austin Beerworks, 3009 Industrial Terrace
  A clean German-style pilsner ten minutes from Q2, and the correct pre-match stop on Saturday. The taproom empties out right around kickoff.

Free this week

• Sat Aug 22, 8:00 PM · Free
  Austin Pride Parade
  Congress Ave
• Sun Aug 23, 8:00 PM · Free
  Gone to Texas
  UT Main Mall
• 5:00 to 8:00 AM and 9:00 to 10:00 PM daily · Free
  Barton Springs free hours
  Zilker Park

From the archive

Three nights of PBR at Moody land in the same weekend UT starts moving students back in, which is the worst possible time to improvise a parking plan on campus. Our Moody Center parking guide covers which garages actually open for arena events, what the walk from each one is like, and where to leave the car if you would rather pay nothing and walk twelve minutes.

Looking ahead

• Through Aug 30 · $15
  Summer Classic Film Series, final week
  State Theatre and Bullock IMAX
• Week of Aug 24 · Free, unfortunately
  UT fall classes begin and the Drag returns to form
  West Campus and Guadalupe
• Sep 5 to 7 · Varies
  Labor Day weekend plans start firming up
  Everywhere

ATX Weekly tip

Saturday is a logistics problem, not a scheduling one. Congress Avenue closes for the parade hours before the 8 PM step-off, and the closure cuts downtown in half right when the Q2 crowd is trying to get home. If you are doing both, drive nothing: take the Red Line to McKalla for the match, ride it back to the Downtown Station, and you land two blocks off the parade route with no car to retrieve. If you are only doing Pride, park north of the Capitol around 15th and San Jacinto and walk down; everything south of 6th turns into a slow funnel by nine. And register for the festival online before Saturday, because the advance list moves at the gate and the walk-up line does not.

A night parade, a home match, and three days of bull riding, all inside a week that also has to make room for move-in trucks on Guadalupe. Austin does not really do slow Augusts anymore. Register early, take the train, and we will see you on Congress. — The ATX Weekly Editors