Crowds of thousands have flocked for more than two decades to Austin, Texas, in the U.S. for the Austin City Limits Music Festival, commonly referred to as the ACL festival. For two weekends every year, artists from across genres and generations find a stage to perform at this true celebration of sound.
The ACL festival has become a must-attend event over the years, and 2022 was no different.
- Around 75, 000 people attended the festival in 2022.
- In 2021, the festival brought in $369 million in revenue for the region.
- Over 100 acts performed in 2022.
- The 2022 festival was held over two weekends.
- ACL festival celebrated its 21st birthday in 2022.
- American Express offered NFTs at ACL for the first time in 2022.
- Austin Kiddie Limits returned after three years in 2022.
- 2023 ACL will take place on the 6th, 8th, 13th and 15th of October.
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Austin City Limits Music Festival Talent
The ACL festival celebrated its 21st birthday in 2022 with over 100 acts that performed for a crowd that was roughly 75, 000 in size. The line-up catered to a diverse crowd and included genres like hip-hop, electronic music, rock, and so much more.
The 2022 ACL festival was headlined by The Chicks, SZA, Pink, Flume, Lil Nas X, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kacey Musgraves.
Although the festival only takes place over two weekends in October, a handful of artists end up taping episodes for the Austin City Limits TV show, from which the festival was born and continues to be affiliated with. Tickets to the tapings are free, and the performances are recorded in front of an audience. The episodes are then broadcasted after the festival.
Some of the festival’s acts that recorded their performances with the TV show included:
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats: Their episode was released on the 14th of January 2023. They performed songs from their latest album, The Future, as well as some of their other hits.
The War on Drugs: Their episode premiered on the 5th of January 2023 and highlights from their album I Don’t Live Here Anymore was broadcasted. The album was nominated for a grammy.
Adrian Quesada: His episode was released on the 21st of January 2023 and highlighted his first solo appearance to bring attention to his album Boleros Psicodelicos.
Beyond The Songs
Some acts took to the stage to perform more than just their music. Several artists showcased their political activism in their critique of certain political leaders and policies. Others made gubernatorial endorsements.
Politics took centre stage for the following artists:
The Chicks
Natalie Maines, the Texas country music band’s lead vocalist, wore a t-shirt that had the face of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who passed away in 2020, on it. Screens with the footage of protests and the names of victims of police killings flashed on stage as they performed their 2020 hit “March March”. They also urged the crowd to vote for Beto O’Rourke, a Texas gubernatorial candidate, both through a “Beto For Texas” sticker that could be seen on Emily Strayer’s piano, as well as in a statement made by Maines.
Kasey Musgraves
Kasey Musgraves went political at both of her headlining sets over the two weekends. During her first headline set, she called out the U.S. Supreme court as well as the U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz while she was performing her song “High Horse”. On the second weekend, she accepted a beer that Beto O’Rourke had offered her.
Lido Pimienta
The Columbian artist and musician criticised the Texas abortion law.
The musicians were not the only ones to communicate political messages at the festival in 2022.
An organisation called HeadCount attended the event to encourage voter registration. Even before the festival had begun, HeadCount announced that they would attend both festival weekends to ensure that attendees were registered to vote. They provided a booth with a QR code that, when scanned, could check whether an attendee had registered to vote or not.
The ACL festival was one of 40 other events that HeadCount attended in the Austin area in 2022.
The Sweet Smell Of Brands
While the artists were the main attraction at the ACL festival, certain brands went all out in their efforts of attracting attendees at the festival in 2022- using enticing techniques.
American Express set up their two-story ‘American Express Experience’ after they had taken a pause in 2020. The first level was open to the public and contained multiple areas of engagement, complimentary ice cream, and a DIY phone charm station, among others. Amex card members could experience even more at the Card Member Lounge where they had access to complimentary glam services and a bar. For the first time at the festival, American Express offered NFTs for ACL, in partnership with Zuzu, a local artist in Austin.
The Honda Water Tower was a place where attendees could go to get a free tattoo and enter into a competition where they could either win a new 2023 Honda HR-V or VIP passes to the Honda Summit Club.
Tito’s Stardust Experience housed a free photo booth, personalized dog tags, yard games that could be played while sipping a cocktail, and an interactive journey explaining how Tito’s Handmade Vodka came to be.
The Hulu Motel partnered with ACL for the first time in 2022 and live-streamed selected performances. The space was enclosed with air-conditioning and seating as well as a retro-styled drinks set up. The motel also had postcards that could be mailed internationally and attendees were encouraged to choose, write, and mail their postcards from the space.
Austin Kiddie Limits returned for the first time after three years in 2022. Produced by Lifeway Kefir (a smoothie brand) and C3’s in-house team, the area was for children under 8 years old and took place on Friday between 12 and 6 pm and on Saturday and Sunday between 11 and 6 pm. There were samples of the Lifeway Kefir smoothies, a song creation area, beaded keychains and button stations. Artists like SaulPaul, Lucy Kalantari & the jazz cats as well as School of Rock performed.
ACL Festival’s Footprint
An event as large as the ACL festival is bound to leave more than just a good memory behind it, especially as it has so many offerings on the side too. Hosted in Zilker Park, the festival has been criticised for not taking enough care to clean up the mess that it generates over the two weekends.
However, efforts are being made. 2022 was the first year where reusable cups were introduced. Attendees who opted for these cups could place them in receptacles around the festival when they were finished with them.
The Austin Parks Foundation handed out trash bags to attendees who were encouraged to collect aluminium cans which they could return for a free festival t-shirt. Around 1, 000 bags were collected each day which were later transported to a recycling centre.
Austin City Limits Music Festival Economic Contributions
Statistics for the economic contribution of the ACL festival to the Austin economy found that it brought in $369 million in 2021. While statistics for the contribution made by the 2022 ACL festival have not been released yet, the proceeds were planned to go to the following projects:
- School Parks Capital Replacement
- Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt
- Zilker Eagle
- Onion Creek Metro
2023 Austin City Limits Music Festival
Artists have yet to be announced for the 2023 ACL line-up. The event will take place on the 6th and 8th of October and the 13th and 15th of October.
Sources
https://www.hopdoddy.com/blog/acl-guide
https://www.aclfestival.com/beyond-the-music
Nathan has always been captivated by numbers and patterns. With a Master’s degree in Statistics, he’s honed his skills to decipher complex data sets and discern market trends.
Over the past decade, Nathan has worked with various firms compiling and analyzing industry spending figures to forecast market movements.