Austin Parks and Recreation Prepares Zilker Park for ACL Fest Weekend Two

Austin Parks and Recreation (APR), Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment (ACME), and C3 Presents staff and contractors worked around the clock this week to ensure Zilker Park's Great Lawn and surrounding areas are safe and ready for Weekend Two of ACL Music Festival.

This week’s Zilker Park Great Lawn remediation measures included:

Monday

• The lawn was cleared of all staff and machinery traffic. Favorable weather conditions enabled many saturated areas to dry out.

Tuesday and Wednesday

• Work crews pulled up temporary turf and removed trash, leftover materials, and hardware buried in the ground.
• Work crews removed leftover material piles, cleared mulch from the stage areas, and leveled ruts in the lawn with rollers.
• The lawn was fully aerated.
• Irrigation lines were inspected and found to be in full working order.
• Lawn watering began on Wednesday and continues through Friday.  

Thursday

• Lawn protection for Weekend Two was loaded in.
• Weekend Two lawn protection will remain in place through the event. All equipment will stay on lawn protection for the restocking of hospitality, food, and refreshment areas. No exceptions are permitted.
• Work crews began laying down artificial turf in high traffic areas prone to excessive dust.
• Work crews continued watering the lawn.

Friday

• Restocking of hospitality, food, and refreshment areas continues.
• Work crews finish laying down artificial turf in high traffic areas.
• Work crews continue watering the lawn.

Saturday and Sunday

• The lawn will be watered overnight on the weekend.

As with previous years, once event organizers conclude the post-event load-out from Zilker Park, APR and ACME staff, along with C3 representatives, will continue site assessments to plan next steps for this year's restoration and remediation. 

Portions of the Great Lawn will remain closed to allow for turf recovery, including restoring nutrients to the soil and trees and relieving soil compaction from festival traffic. Event organizers are committed to fully restore the Great Lawn and surrounding park areas utilized for the festival to their previous conditions or better, at no cost to taxpayers.

Sections will reopen as work allows, along with the customary partial closure remaining in effect for APR’s annual maintenance window and the Trail of Lights.  

APR’s goal is to open the Great Lawn on a similar timeframe in line with previous years.  

Get the most up-to-date information about ACL Festival-related transportation for this weekend and during the post-event load-out period via the ACL Mobility Guide website: https://tinyurl.com/ACLMobilityGuide2026.

Get updates and reopening schedules for Zilker Park at: AustinTexas.gov/parkclosures.