Rating: 9/10

When imagining iconic music festivals, examples such as Coachella, Burning Man and Lollapalooza immediately come to mind. What better way to experience music than by larping as an influencer or hippie for one weekend only?

But there’s always been one festival I’ve had my eye on. Austin City Limits Music Festival, or ACL, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year as the premier Texas music festival.  

While taking the main stage at Austin’s Zilker Park, it boasts a large yearly attendance, attracting roughly 450,000 attendees across its two-weekend run.

Obviously, this year’s ACL was quite unusual due to the unique challenges that poor weather conditions brought to Weekend 1. As my own weekend approached, I couldn’t stop imagining the apocalyptic dust clouds my friends and I would be walking into after Zilker Park had already been churned into a fine powder the week before.

Despite the mud, ACL did everything possible to make the experience of Weekend 2 as enjoyable as possible. I especially enjoyed the free bandanas given out at the entrances and artificial turf that made the heavily trafficked areas easier to walk on. Maybe Chilifest could learn something from this.

The great aspect of any music festival is its diversity in sets, allowing music enthusiasts to enjoy many genres and performers over the course of the festival. I gravitate towards pop, so my most anticipated performances included Charli xcx, Lorde, Audrey Hobert and The Chainsmokers.

One of the main complaints about this year’s lineup was the saturation of EDM acts and the lack of hip-hop, country and rock music. Even if I don’t find myself listening to these genres as much, I can sympathize with fans wanting to see their favorite genres represented on the stage.

However, what’s really important is the actual music itself, and this year’s lineup was full of energy and impressive performances.

Charli xcx’s performance was easily my favorite set of the weekend. She commanded the stage with her iconic it-girl energy and the best use of dynamic lighting and performance. I cried actual tears during her closing performance of “No One Lasts Forever,” ending with a sobering monologue about identity through art and its relationship to the concept of life and endurance. As David Cronenberg so beautifully remarks, “Oblivion is freedom.”

Another highlight of ACL was an iconic ending to Lorde’s Ultrasound World Tour where she performed hits new and old in the same city where she began a little over a year ago. She brought that emotion with her, barely able to sing the lyrics of her song “Liability,” letting us fans unite by singing the words that she cannot bring herself to sing.

Audrey Hobert solidified herself as one of the best new artists to come out of 2025. Her set was entirely composed of her debut album “Who’s the Clown?” and her infectious enthusiasm and confidence charmed me and anyone else who was listening to her for the first time.

Surprisingly, a set that I didn’t expect to enjoy from ACL that I watched from afar belonged to Turnstile. Their mud-soaked mosh pit looked equal parts insane and fun as they brought rocker energy to a festival lineup that seriously needed it.

One lowlight of the festival was the occasional misplaced set. Both Rebecca Black — yes, the girl who sang “Friday” and is now a pop star — and Natasha Bedingfield drew a large audience, yet were placed under the small Tito’s Tent. Making their sets barely watchable for the people unlucky enough to not be under the cover.

I also found the weekend-exclusive performers for both weekends to be occasionally uneven. Weekend one had hyperpop and EDM acts such as the aforementioned Rebecca Black, underscores and Skrillex, while Weekend 2 only had Kings of Leon and Sienna Spiro to compete with.

But ACL isn’t just about the music; it’s about the people.

The crowd was a mix of college students, Austin locals, parents with and without their kids and out‑of‑state visitors who severely underestimated Texas heat. There’s something oddly comforting about being surrounded by thousands of sweaty strangers all united by the same goal: having a good time and pretending the dust isn’t that bad. However, the teenagers who were excited to see Lorde could have used a lesson on concert etiquette.

By the end of each night, Zilker looked like a battlefield of crushed water bottles, lost sunglasses and people sprawled out on the ground contemplating their life choices. And yet, everyone was smiling. That’s the magic of ACL — no matter how dirty, tired or sunburned you get, you leave feeling like you were part of an experience greater than yourself.

So, ACL, all I have to ask is: same time next year?

Wyatt Pickering is a Business honors and finance senior and associate opinion editor for The Battalion.