ACL mud draws concern as festivalgoers navigate Zilker Park’s Great Lawn

AUSTIN, Texas — The muddy conditions at ACL’s Great Lawn are getting attention from festivalgoers and a city council member.

Some attendees said it has been tough to get around, but they also said the mud is not keeping them from the music.

Thousands of ACL fans gather each year on Zilker Park’s Great Lawn for some of the festival’s biggest performances, but after this year’s rain, festivalgoers are now navigating thick mud with nearly every step.

“Just seeing the same image as everyone else was seeing of all the mud on the Great Lawn,” District 5 Council Member, Ryan Alter, said. “You know, the conditions were just, I felt unacceptable and we need to make sure that the lawn is really safe and protected.”

The muddy conditions at ACL’s Great Lawn are getting attention from festivalgoers and a city council member. (CBS Austin/Jane Page)

In a statement today, Alter said the Great Lawn is a public asset and needs to be protected from further damage.

Alter said Austinites deserve to know how the organizers of the festival are planning to fix its conditions once ACL weekend two ends.

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However, for people attending ACL, the mud has become part of the festival experience.

“Right off the bat it is so muddy,” Sidney Orman, an ACL attendee, said. “Anywhere you walk it’s just mud like you’re just walking in piles of it, it’s crazy.”

For people attending ACL, the mud has become part of the festival experience. (CBS Austin/Jane Page)

This is Orman’s first ACL, and while she’s seen festival crews try to help attendees navigate the mud, Orman said getting the grass back might just take time.

“Honestly for a while it might not be unless the sun comes out and kind of dries up the mud,” Orman said. “But I know right now they were having to put like boards in certain places for people to get around But I would hope it would be fine after when the park opens back up, but I’m not really sure.”

Some festivalgoers said they’ve seen people slip and fall because of the muddy conditions.

And many people I spoke with said it’s been hard to avoid getting mud on their clothes. (CBS Austin/Jane Page)

And many people I spoke with said it’s been hard to avoid getting mud on their clothes.

“I’m slipping and sliding everywhere,” Dresden Gross, an ACL attendee, said. “I mean it’s bad. Like I literally fell over yesterday. I was covered in like this dirt.”

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“We just got these new shoes together,” Ben Roberts, an ACL attendee, said. “And we were hyped to like show them off at ACL and then we stepped in like first steps like, ‘oh, mud, ruined.’”

The main worry now is that these muddy conditions could continue to get worse with all the foot traffic. (CBS Austin/Jane Page)

Still, attendees said a little mud is not enough to keep them from making memories at this year’s ACL festival.

“It’s a little mud, it is a little crazy,” Merilynn Hernandez, an ACL attendee, said. “But I think it’s definitely worth it. At the end of the night, you get to take home all the memories and experience of the great shows put together.”

The main worry now is that these muddy conditions could continue to get worse with all the foot traffic.

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