Fantastic Fest takes South Lamar, and the Longhorns get a soft landing.

Last week asked you to choose between a top-five opponent and four nights of psych rock, and this week is the recovery. Fantastic Fest opens Thursday and runs eight days at Alamo Drafthouse, which is the closest Austin gets to a film festival that behaves like a music festival. Before that, J. Cole plays Moody Center on Monday, Kehlani is out at Germania on Tuesday, and Diez y Seis lands midweek with free celebrations at Republic Square and out on Springdale. Saturday brings UTSA to DKR at 7:00, a home game that will not reprice a hotel room. We start tonight with Chance the Rapper at Waterloo Park and the last day of Levitation.

The marquee

• Thu Sep 17 through Thu Sep 24 · Badges sold out in the spring, individual tickets released daily
  Fantastic Fest
  Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 1120 S Lamar Blvd
  Eight days of horror, sci-fi, action and whatever else does not fit anywhere else, with 56 world and international premieres on the schedule. Badges went in February and are long gone, but individual tickets get released each morning for that day's screenings, and a Monday matinee is a much easier ticket than a Friday midnight. Go in without a plan for at least one slot and let a title you have never heard of pick you.
• Mon Sep 14, 8:00 PM · From $73
  J. Cole
  Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr
  The Fall-Off tour, on a Monday, which is an odd night for an arena show and a good one for anyone who hates a Saturday crowd. Doors well before the 8:00 start, and the show runs long enough that a school night is a real consideration. Read the parking note below before you commit to driving.
• Sat Sep 19, 7:00 PM · Resale, and cheaper than anything you saw last week
  Texas vs UTSA
  Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, 405 E 23rd St
  A 7:00 kickoff on SEC Network+ against an in-state opponent, which is the definition of a get-right game after Ohio State. That also makes it the most affordable ticket of the home slate, so if you have been waiting to take somebody to their first game at DKR, this is the week. Night kickoff still means campus is unusable from about four.

Sunday · Tonight

• Tonight, evening · From $45
  Chance the Rapper
  Moody Amphitheater, 1401 Trinity St
  The tenth anniversary run, outdoors at Waterloo Park, on a Sunday evening that should finally feel like the front edge of fall. Lawn tickets remain the right call, and the walk out onto Red River afterward is easier than any Moody Center exit.
• Today, earlier start times · Single shows still available
  Levitation, closing day
  Radio/East, Stubb's, Mohawk, Hotel Vegas
  The last day of four, and the sets start earlier. Sunday is when single tickets actually turn up at the door, so if you skipped the whole thing you can still catch one room tonight.
• 4:00 PM · Free
  Chicken Shit Bingo
  Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, Brentwood
  Inside by 3:30 for a seat. The dependable Sunday, unchanged by whatever the rest of the city is doing.
• Open until 10:00 PM · $5
  Evening swim at Barton Springs
  Zilker Park
  Sixty-eight degrees. Free after nine, and the crowd thins out considerably once the sun is off the lawn.

Monday–Wednesday

• Mon Sep 14, 8:00 PM · From $73
  J. Cole
  Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr
  See the marquee. A Monday arena show downtown means the garages fill later than usual, which helps, but the exit onto Red River after does not.
• Tue Sep 15, 6:00 to 9:00 PM · Free
  La Fiesta de Independencia de México
  Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St
  El Grito reenacted downtown by the Consul General, with Roy Lozano Ballet Folklórico, Mariachi Capital and Sonora Dinamita Explosiva on the program and an artisan mercado around the edges. Free, outdoors, family-friendly, and finished by nine. The most Austin-in-September thing on this list.
• Tue Sep 15, 6:00 PM · From $45
  Kehlani, The Kehlani World Tour
  Germania Insurance Amphitheater, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd
  Out at COTA with Durand Bernarr and Isaia Huron opening. The 6:00 start is real and the drive back up 71 afterward is the part people forget. Leave earlier than feels necessary.
• Tue Sep 15, 7:30 PM · From $60
  Ken Carson, xperimenting tour
  Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr
  All ages, with xaviersobased and Prettifun. Two Moody Center shows in two nights is a lot of Robert Dedman Drive, so plan the second one as a bus trip.
• Wed Sep 16, 5:00 to 8:00 PM · Free
  Mexican Independence Day at St. Elmo Springdale
  8110 Springdale Rd
  A limited Frida release on draft and in cans, a Latin vendor market, DJ Mijo Grande, Akins Mariachi and Guzman Ballet Folklorico, with Pueblo Viejo and Via 313 handling food. Free parking, which is not something we get to write often.
• Wed Sep 16, 6:00 to 7:30 PM · Free
  Music on the Trail
  Rainey Street Trailhead, Cummings St
  The Trail Conservancy's weekly lawn set, back for the fall run. Bring a blanket, get there by six, and you are done in time for dinner anywhere on Rainey.

Thursday–Friday

• Thu Sep 17 · Individual tickets released daily
  Fantastic Fest, opening day
  Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 1120 S Lamar Blvd
  Opening night is the hardest ticket of the eight days and the one most likely to sell before you finish reading this. Thursday afternoon screenings are the realistic entry point if you do not have a badge.
• Thu Sep 17, 8:45 PM · From $35
  Candlelight: Tribute to Trent Reznor
  St. David's Episcopal Church, 301 E 8th St
  String arrangements of Reznor's film and game work by candlelight in a downtown church, which sounds like a bit until you are sitting in it. The 8:45 slot is the better of the two that night.
• Thu Sep 17 through Sun Sep 20 · From $25
  Carried By The Winds, Blue Lapis Light
  One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Rd
  Aerial dance off the side of a city office building, which Blue Lapis Light has been doing better than anyone for two decades. Dress for standing outside, and the later performances read better against a dark facade.
• Thu Sep 17, 7:00 to 9:00 PM · From $125
  Red Dot Art Spree
  Women & Their Work, 1311 E Cesar Chavez St
  Everything on the walls is $1,500 or less and tax free, which makes this the one night a year buying original art is a normal-person decision. Arrive at seven, because the good pieces get dots in the first thirty minutes.
• Fri Sep 18, 9:00 PM · No cover
  Friday honky tonk at the White Horse
  500 Comal St, East Austin
  Three bands, no cover, and the east side back to normal now that Levitation has cleared out.

Next Saturday

• Sat Sep 19, 7:00 PM · Resale
  Texas vs UTSA
  Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
  See the marquee. The cheapest way into DKR this season, on SEC Network+, with a night kickoff and a full day of tailgating in front of it.
• Sat Sep 19, all day · Individual tickets released daily
  Fantastic Fest, day three
  Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
  The busiest day of the festival, and the one where the secret screenings tend to land. South Lamar parking on a Saturday during Fantastic Fest is a genuine problem, so get dropped off.
• Sat Sep 19, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM · Free
  SFC Farmers Market at Republic Square
  422 Guadalupe St, Downtown
  Peppers and fall greens are the reason to go right now, and the square is back to itself after Tuesday night. Wide open before eleven.
• Sat Sep 19, 7:00 PM · From $30
  Flower Shop, Ventana Ballet
  East Side Performing Arts, 979 Springdale Rd Ste 815
  Closing night of a world premiere staged behind a red door in a fake flower shop, with live strings and piano from Austin Camerata. The artists stick around after, which is most of the appeal.
• Sat Sep 19, from late afternoon · No cover
  Watching it at Lavaca Street Bar
  405 Lavaca St, Downtown
  If you are not going to the game, this is the downtown version with enough screens and enough room. Get a table by five, because a 7:00 kickoff means everybody arrives at six-thirty and finds nowhere to stand.

Next Sunday

• Sun Sep 20, daytime · Free
  Austin Museum Day
  Museums and cultural sites citywide
  Free admission and special programming at dozens of Austin museums for one day. The trick is to pick two that are near each other rather than trying to cross town four times, and to start at the smaller one before the line forms.
• Sun Sep 20 · Individual tickets released daily
  Fantastic Fest, second Sunday
  Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
  The middle Sunday is the easiest day of the run to walk into something without planning it.
• Sun Sep 20, 4:00 PM · Free
  Chicken Shit Bingo
  Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, Brentwood

What we're drinking this week

• · $12
  Paloma at Las Perlas
  405 E 7th St, Downtown
  A mezcal bar with a wall of bottles and a staff that will happily talk you through it, which is the right room for Diez y Seis week. Order the paloma first and then ask them what to try next.
• · $7
  Frida release at St. Elmo Springdale
  8110 Springdale Rd
  Limited, on draft and in cans to go, only around Wednesday's celebration. Go on the night for the mariachi, or go later in the week and hope there are cans left.
• · $14
  Mezcal negroni at Whisler's
  1816 E 6th St
  Smoke where the gin usually is, in a room that still feels like the east side did ten years ago. The upstairs mezcaleria opens later and is worth the stairs.
• · $5
  Cold brew at Cosmic Coffee
  121 Pickle Rd, South Austin
  A coffee bar inside a beer garden, with shade, koi ponds and food trucks, which makes it the rare place you can start at nine and stay until four without anyone minding.

Free this week

• Tue Sep 15, 6:00 to 9:00 PM · Free
  La Fiesta de Independencia de México
  Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St
• Wed Sep 16, 6:00 PM · Free
  Music on the Trail
  Rainey Street Trailhead
• Sun Sep 20 · Free
  Austin Museum Day
  Citywide

From the archive

Two Moody Center shows in two nights, and then a night kickoff at DKR four days later, all inside the same few blocks of campus. That is three chances this week to make the same parking mistake. Our Moody Center parking guide covers which garages actually let you out afterward, where the rideshare pins are worth walking to, and why the Red Line beats every one of them on a weeknight. Have it open before Monday.

Looking ahead

• Mon Sep 21 through Thu Sep 24 · Individual tickets daily
  Fantastic Fest, closing weekend
  Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
• Through Sep 27 · From $28
  Come From Away
  Zach Theatre, 202 S Lamar Blvd
• Early October · Wristbands on sale now
  ACL Fest, weekend one
  Zilker Park

ATX Weekly tip

Fantastic Fest runs on a system most people learn the hard way. Badges sold out in February, but the festival releases individual tickets for each day's screenings the morning of, and they go in minutes rather than hours. Set an alarm, be on the site early, and have a second and third choice picked out before you start, because the film you wanted will already be gone and you will not have time to browse. Once you have a ticket, get to South Lamar at least forty-five minutes ahead: the theater seats by ticket order, the lot is small and shared with the whole block, and you order food from your seat before the lights go down, not after. If you are going more than once, park somewhere on Bouldin and walk the six minutes rather than circling the lot twice.

A quieter week than the last one, which is not a complaint. Eight days of film, a free Grito downtown, and a football game you can actually afford. See you out there. — The ATX Weekly Editors