AUSTIN, Texas — We now know just how much money last year's Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) raised for local parks.
When music fans purchase ACL wristbands or enjoy a drink at Zilker Park during the annual festival, a portion of those proceeds goes right back into the city's parks via grants from the Austin Parks Foundation. The money is used to fund dozens of parks improvement projects and support the city's mission to make all parks more accessible to everyone.
The Austin Parks Foundation announced on Monday that ACL 2023 raised $8.1 million for local parks – almost $1 million more than the 2022 festival.
Members of the foundation, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, the Austin City Council and C3 Presents – which organizes ACL – gathered for the announcement on Monday morning at McBeth Recreation Center. Officials said the center is just one project that was made possible through ACL-generated funding.
"Behind me is a great example of a project that happened because of ACL," Colin Wallis, CEO of the Austin Parks Foundation, said. "We built this amazing playground and safety surfacing for the rec center and the people that use the rec center who never even go to Zilker [Park]."
The Austin Parks Foundation said the money raised from ACL 2023 will be used to fund a number of things, including but not limited to:
- Park planning and permitting of Grand Meadow Neighborhood Park
- Repair and replacement of failing stage at Zilker Hillside Theater
- Playground renovation and pool shade installation at Montopolis Neighborhood Park
- Designing Austin’s first all-abilities playground at Onion Creek Metropolitan Park
- Community-initiated park improvements in all 10 districts
C3 Presents said over the past 19 years, ACL's partnership with the Austin Parks Foundation has provided more than $63 million to the city's public parks system.
Last week, ACL announced the lineup for this year's festival, scheduled for Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13. Headliners include Dua Lipa, Blink-182 and Tyler, the Creator. Other big names scheduled to play are Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Stimpson and Pretty Lights.
According to C3 Presents, last year alone, ACL contributed nearly $500 million to Austin's economy, equivalent to 3,766 full-time jobs. Since the festival began tracking its economic impact in 2006, ACL has generated more than $3.5 billion for the local economy.