Austin City Limits (ACL), Austin’s largest music festival in terms of both venue size and attendees, remains one of the city’s most profitable and popular attractions. In the 17 years the festival has been in existence, it has drawn fans from all over the world.

Attendees from out of town have differing ideas about the festival’s placement in Austin. Austin is not the largest city in Texas, and some, such as ACL attendee Casey Thibodeaux, question whether the Live Music Capital Of The World is worthy enough to handle a festival of ACL’s stature. Thibodeaux, who lives in a small town a few hours from Austin, has been coming to the festival for the past few years. However, her reasons for attending are less musical, and more work-based.

“I bartend here at Bar 5, and it’s about the same [pay],” Thibodeaux said. “I am from a small town, so … I drive back every day.”

Other attendees, like Rhyia Reyes, said they appreciate the city as much as the music. ACL’s artists perform on stages scattered around Zilker Park, with Austin’s steadily growing skyline as the backdrop.

Reyes originally lived in Austin before moving to neighboring San Antonio a few years ago. Rheyes said the city is a big part of her reason for coming back every year for the past six years.

“I love Austin,” Rheyes said. “I love how it’s up and coming, and people are very nice. And, it’s very environmentally conscious.”

Though Rheyes now lives in San Antonio, she finds Austin more appealing. The city itself, combined with the big music festival, makes for what she considers a great experience.
“I believe there is a difference [between Austin and San Antonio],” Rheyes said. “Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, and I am geared towards music. So I prefer Austin over San Antonio. Austin will always be better, and ACL is my home.”

For Rheyes, ACL is its own incentive to come to Austin. When she first attended, she had only been to one concert and wanted to experience more.

“It’s a tradition to go every year,” Rheyes said. “I am just impressed by the lineup each year. I want to see more artists and cross all of them off on my bucket list.”

Briana Cortez is from Laredo, TX, and this was her first time at the festival. Though she enjoys ACL, her primary reason for coming is the city.

“I have been to Austin before–this is maybe my fourth time coming,” Cortez said. “I’ve been around. I go out to like West 6th … it’s all we’ve been doing since we’ve been at the festival. We went to the District, we went to the capital. It’s nice. I really like it.”

People with different backgrounds who come to ACL have differing opinions on Austin itself. While some, like Rheyes and Cortez, have an affinity for the festival’s hometown, others see it as more of an opportunity to see entertaining concerts. There is also a part of the population that still believes both the festival and the city are overrated.
“I don’t really like Austin,” Thibodeaux said. “I’m here, I’m tired, it’s day 6, and I want to go home.”

Cortez has only visited a few times, but like Rheyes, she said she prefers aspects of Austin over her hometown.

“I love Austin. It’s very different from where I live,” Cortez said. “Here everybody is so nice and so open. Back home people aren’t like that. I really like the environment, the people and the city itself. I would still come if I [lived farther away].”