{"id":361617,"date":"2026-07-05T04:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361617\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T04:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:33:24","slug":"star-spangled-fest-continues-final-preparations-with-drone-show-other-new-features-in-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361617\/","title":{"rendered":"Star-Spangled Fest continues final preparations with drone show, other new features in mix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AUSTIN, Texas  \u2014 As crews raised an American flag behind the stage at Auditorium Shores, final preparations were underway for <a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/fourth-of-july-weekend-check-fireworks-festivals-and-free-fun-around-central-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Austin\u2019s 49th annual Star-Spangled Fest<\/a> and the Austin Symphony Orchestra\u2019s 49th consecutive year performing at the event.<\/p>\n<p>Organizers said the buildout moved quickly. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe started on July 1st and obviously we&#8217;re in full swing right now,\u201d said Allegra Benz, the producer for Star-Spangled Fest.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s celebration is expected to run all day, with afternoon festivities scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission to the majority of Auditorium Shores is free and open to the public, though there will be a fenced-in Shoreline VIP area with tickets priced at $35.<\/p>\n<p>Benz said the event is expanding its programming, including what she described as a special symphony set as America celebrates its 250th  year of existence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe symphony is actually doing a really special program with some really patriotic cool pieces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She also said the festival will feature a new addition to commemorate the quincentennial. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;ve also got the first ever drone show that&#8217;s happening with Star Spangled Fest,\u201d Benz said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/fourth-of-july-weekend-check-fireworks-festivals-and-free-fun-around-central-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ALSO | Fourth of July Weekend Check: Fireworks, Festivals and Free Fun Around Central Texas<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fireworks are also planned. Kevin McCarthy, who said he has been in Austin for eight months and plans to attend, said he\u2019s anticipating the show. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah definitely, we&#8217;re really looking forward to the show, the fireworks should be epic,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy said he\u2019s heard from others that the festival is a city tradition. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, from people I&#8217;ve met that have been living in Austin for the last few years say that it&#8217;s a must-see event in the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Benz said organizers are also introducing a morning program for the first time. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re really excited about having a morning program this year. You know, the evening event is such a staple, but we wanted to really diversify the audience that can come out to Star Spangled Fest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Benz said the festival is partnering with the Concourse Project and the Mushroom Cowboy for the morning event. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s going to be local DJs. It&#8217;s family-friendly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Joining the Austin Symphony for tomorrow\u2019s performances will be blues artist Tomar and the FCs, as well as Americana artist Shelby Stone. Benz said the expanded lineup is intentional. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe love that there&#8217;s something for everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As crews raised an American flag behind the stage at Auditorium Shores, final preparations were&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-361617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}