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A picture I took at the Austin City Limits festival with a background made from canva
A picture I took at the Austin City Limits festival with a background made from canva
Photo by Sara Presas / Canva
Texas | Life > Experiences

MudCL is the Best ACL

Emily Dragun Student Contributor, University of Texas - Austin
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Austin City Limits Weekend 1 was faced with showers dumping about 2 inches of rain on Zilker Park. The grassy field soon turned into one giant sloshy mud puddle after the heavy foot traffic. Although the idea of muddy shoes and rainy skies had brought down the initial excitement for the weekend, those gray factors were actually what made the weekend as memorable, vibrant and lively as it was. 

When thinking of ACL, images of green grass and the sun beaming down probably comes to mind. So, it was a bit disappointing when the weather forecast kept updating, showing more and more rain expected for the first weekend of the festival. The rain forced attendees of Weekend 1 of ACL to trade sunshine for cloudy skies, cowgirl boots for rain boots, and sunscreen for rain ponchos. Seeing the comparison at a glance, you may think you have an idea of how a weekend like that could go, but it really turned into the complete opposite.

The less than ideal conditions turned spirits playful, laughing at everyone wearing rain ponchos, people avoiding the same muddy areas, and crowds of people huddled under the trees or under the Coca- Cola Lounge tent. It was all something different from years in the past and different from your average sunny day in Austin, TX. The rain was a nice break from the heat and intense sun that couldn’t seem to let up after a long summer. Cooler weather and slight breezes combated any possible humidity but short sleeves and skirts still didn’t leave you too cold.

Everything about the weekend was unexpected from the weather to how much fun it was. The best part of the entire weekend was on the third day, during Audrey Hobert’s set, she had made a joke saying that the rain had to stop while she performed and that it was “something that I wrote into the contract very early on.” Which seemed to be true as the rain had kinda held off all of Sunday and somewhere in the second half of Audrey’s set the clouds broke and the gray sky parted, displaying pockets of blue across the sky. And to make it even better, the sun ended up showing its face around the clouds.

The sunlight felt almost electric on your skin, warming you up from the inside and putting a smile on everyone’s face. The energy completely shifted the rest of the day even after the sun hid back behind the clouds. The sunlight would never have felt as good if it was there the whole weekend. The weekend was a one-of-a-kind experience enabled by the weather and positive attitude drifting though the fields of Zilker Park. 

Emily Dragun

Texas '30

Emily Dragun is a freshman at the University of Texas majoring in journalism and hoping to minor in government to hopefully grow her understanding of how government and media can influence each other. She is the newsletter editor for Drift magazine, and member of TSTV News and is so excited to be a chapter member for Her Campus. She is passionate about advocating for the environment, building new relationships, and writing about the changing world around us.
Outside of schoolwork, she can be found reading a new book, watching a new movie, or listening to the latest song. In her free time Emily enjoys playing tennis with UT's recreational tennis team, making crafts for her dorm room, and exploring Austin with her friends. She hopes to grow her writing and earn experience in the field and build a foundation for her future opportunities and positively contribute to the media that influences our world.