Zilker Park after ACL: Will Austin restore the Great Lawn?

Weekend One of Austin City Limits Music Festival left large sections of the Zilker Park Great Lawn churned into thick mud after days of rain, prompting criticism from Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter and raising questions about how the city and festival organizers will restore the park before thousands more attendees arrive for Weekend Two.

Alter, whose district includes Zilker Park, said the damage to the Great Lawn was “unacceptable” despite acknowledging the festival’s importance to Austin.

“ACL is a great event for Austin, its residents, visitors, and our economy but the damage we’ve witnessed to the Great Lawn is unacceptable,” Alter wrote in a statement Saturday.

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“The Great Lawn is a public asset that must be available for everyone after the festival, but I’m very worried it won’t be. I’ve told C3 and city staff that something needs to change to protect from further damage. The public deserves to know the decisions that led to this, what is being done to fix it, and assurances that it will never happen again.”

Alter said in a Monday interview that he spoke up because he was concerned about how long it might take to restore the park, adding that he had full confidence that C3 Presents — the festival’s organizers — would refurbish the lawn. He said he thought it was worth highlighting the damage and making sure the city has good processes and protections in place to protect Zilker Park.

“In a situation like this, I just want to make sure we’re not doing any kind of underlying damage that would require some kind of longer remediation process,” he added.

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Alter said he had spoken with Parks and Recreation Department officials and C3 Presents about efforts to protect the lawn and what amount of rain would make conditions too wet for the festival to continue as planned. He said his understanding was that organizers took the available precautions and ultimately faced a longer stretch of rain than forecasts initially called for. Crews had put down mulch ahead of the festival to create a barrier over the grass and took additional steps Saturday, including scraping away layers of mud in an effort to protect the turf underneath, Alter said.

Cleanup crews work to remove mud at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Under the city’s current agreement with C3 Presents, the festival is responsible for repairing damage it causes to Zilker Park, including damage to plant life. Austin’s parks director determines whether damage occurred, how much it will reasonably cost to repair and whether the festival is responsible for paying.

ACL organizers told the American-Statesman they will remove temporary turf and ground protection used during Weekend One as they prepare for the festival’s second weekend.

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“We will prioritize rest and recovery of the park this week by strictly limiting activity on the grounds before next weekend,” organizers said in an email.

Festival staff transports flooring to help with the mud behind the scenes at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman

Organizers said an assessment of the grounds is underway and that they will meet daily with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to “prepare for remediation after the festival.”

Parks officials have historically required ACL organizers to pay for turf repairs. After ACL in 2021, the city required C3 to coordinate and pay for all turf repairs and charged the company about $59,000 in post-event fees while remediation was underway. A $500 daily fee continued while repaired areas remained closed to the public to allow new grass to grow, according to Parks and Recreation Department records.

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The city’s new 15-year agreement, however, no longer spells out those remediation fees. Instead, parks officials have said applicable fees are determined each year through a separate scope-of-work agreement, allowing the city to adjust its fee schedule without rewriting the long-term agreement.

The American-Statesman reached out to city officials for further comment on the state of the park after Weekend One and plans to repair the grounds after the festival.

An attendee walks through the mud at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman

ACL Fest? No, Mudfest

For festivalgoers, the muddy conditions became the defining story of Weekend One.

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Before ACL turned into Mudfest, Ryan, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, wasn’t sure he’d make it to Austin at all.

The 56-year-old’s American Airlines flight from New Jersey was delayed eight times because of “inclement weather,” leaving him stranded in Dallas before he finally arrived.

“I got stranded in Dallas,” he told the Statesman on Sunday night outside the Snapchat stage minutes before The War on Drugs performed.

Yet the five-time Austin City Limits Music Festival veteran and IT professional was in high spirits after finally reuniting with his two longtime friends who live here.

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“I’m a white Irish guy from New Jersey,” he said. “Except for the mud, which can be dealt with, this is my favorite ACL because I die in the sun.”

Heavy downpours on Thursday and Friday turned Zilker Park’s grass into vast, deep reserves of mud. Personal electronics were buried. Groundskeepers could only pool the mud into tall piles to smooth out the terrain. During electronic musician It’s Murph’s concert, attendees could be seen diving into the piles.

Saturday night, after Rüfüs Du Sol closed the festival, another attendee was filmed pulling someone from what appeared to be a waist-deep mud pit.

“Wait so there was also quicksand over there too?” one commenter joked on Instagram.

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Those who failed to secure rain boots before they sold out across Austin quickly discovered sneakers weren’t built for the conditions. Festivalgoers reported shoes coming apart after trudging through the thick mud. Others joked online that attendees in premium viewing areas still had grass — suddenly one of Weekend One’s most coveted amenities.

Despite multiple social media creators sharing warnings about Dillo Dirt leading up to the first weekend of the festival, organizers confirmed the material has not been used since 2009. That year, heavy rains damaged Zilker Park, prompting the use of the material — primarily made up of yard trimmings and treated wastewater solids — to resurface the park.

Megan Reynolds, 22, a Stella Lefty fan from College Station, said last year’s warmer ACL was more enjoyable. It wasn’t just her “outfit choices” or packing ponchos that were more problematic.

“I’ve been very scared of slipping because I have a messed-up ankle,” she said.

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Play video ACL_Mudfest_2026.mp4

Rain, mud and music collided during the first weekend of the 2026 Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park. Despite the less than ideal conditions, tens of thousands of music fans made the best of it while a grounds crew struggled to overcome Mother Nature and a weekend of wet weather.

Jay Janner, Sara Diggins, Mikala Compton

The music of Mudfest

“I wasn’t gonna play this one, but it’s raining,” country singer Jesse Welles told the crowd Friday before covering Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”

The weather turned many performances into loose, self-aware sets.

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An hour later, Baltimore rock band Turnstile introduced children of all ages to hardcore pits as patchy debris flew.

Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Yeslyann Cruz and Billy Mounlasy kiss in the Turnstile mosh pit at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Yeslyann Cruz and Billy Mounlasy kiss in the Turnstile mosh pit at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

MIkala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Brad Tuma finds a lost shoe in the mud during Turnstile's performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Brad Tuma finds a lost shoe in the mud during Turnstile’s performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Lance Steiner of Denver watches Turnstile's performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Lance Steiner of Denver watches Turnstile’s performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman People mosh in the mud during Turnstile's performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

People mosh in the mud during Turnstile’s performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman People mosh in the mud during Turnstile's performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

People mosh in the mud during Turnstile’s performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Turnstile performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Kitty Divine watches Turnstile's performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Kitty Divine watches Turnstile’s performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman Fans mosh to Turnstile at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.