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Austin City Limits Music Festival 2026 is taking over Zilker Park for two weekends this fall, running October 2-4 and October 9-11 in Austin, Texas.
ACL is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with Charli XCX, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, Lorde and The xx leading a lineup of more than 100 performances across nine stages.
Skrillex headlines Weekend One, Kings of Leon takes that slot Weekend Two, and the rest of the weekend somehow finds room for Turnstile, Labrinth, The Chainsmokers, Lola Young, Young Miko, Bleachers, Geese, SOFI TUKKER, Parcels, The War on Drugs, Blood Orange and plenty more.
It’s basically Austin looking at the concept of genre boundaries and deciding those sounded unnecessary.
➜ The real story: ACL has spent 25 years becoming the rare mega-festival where Charli XCX, Turnstile, Lorde, Skrillex, Young Miko and The War on Drugs can all occupy the same park without anyone needing to explain the playlist.
At this point, “Austin City Limits” mostly means there apparently aren’t any.
The ticket situation is where things get complicated.
Weekend One three-day GA, GA+, VIP and Platinum are already on the official waitlist.
Weekend Two three-day GA and GA+ are on the waitlist too.
Weekend Two VIP and Platinum still have regular official inventory, while single-day availability depends on the specific weekend and day.
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2026 runs across two three-day weekends at Zilker Park.
Weekend One is Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4.
Weekend Two is Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11.
The gates open at noon every day.
The festival closes at 10 PM every night across both weekends.
That schedule is one of ACL’s underrated advantages.
You get ten hours inside Zilker Park and still finish early enough to remember Austin has an entire city full of venues, restaurants and nightlife waiting outside the gates.
There are three festival entrances: East Barton Springs, West Barton Springs and the Lady Bird Entrance.
Get the current festival details from the official Austin City Limits Music Festival website.
ACL released its 2026 lineup by day, which makes choosing a single-day ticket considerably easier and choosing between artists considerably harder.
The Austin City Limits 2026 schedule is out now.
The ACL Nights schedule is also out.
Friday is built around Charli XCX.
Skrillex joins her during Weekend One, while Kings of Leon replaces that slot during Weekend Two.
Turnstile, Labrinth, The Chainsmokers and Leon Thomas also play Friday.
Brandon Flowers is a Weekend One Friday exclusive.
Rebecca Black is another Weekend One-only artist on the broader lineup.
Saturday belongs to RÜFÜS DU SOL and Lorde.
Lola Young, Young Miko, Bleachers, Lykke Li, Levity and Suki Waterhouse are among the other major Saturday names.
Sienna Spiro appears Weekend Two.
Then Sunday closes with Twenty One Pilots and The xx.
Geese, SOFI TUKKER, Parcels, The War on Drugs, Blood Orange and Max McNown are part of Sunday too.
Cannons appears Weekend One.
The broader festival bill also includes names like Audrey Hobert, Amyl and the Sniffers, Fcukers, Underscores, Snow Strippers, Rochelle Jordan and plenty of smaller artists who will inevitably become somebody’s favorite discovery of the weekend.
That’s always been one of ACL’s strongest tricks.
The huge names get you through the gate.
The nine-stage layout gives you a very good chance of leaving with three artists you hadn’t planned on seeing at all.
Get the official artist poster from the ACL Festival 2026 lineup page.
The day-by-day artist lineup is out, but the full Austin City Limits 2026 set times aren’t live yet.
The festival’s official schedule page is still showing the previous festival schedule rather than the final 2026 timetable.
That means you can start planning which days matter most, but the truly painful stage conflicts haven’t been revealed yet.
Those usually become a very different conversation once exact times and stages land.
The Festiverse mobile app is the official ACL Festival app and is also worth having once the 2026 schedule and festival map are fully updated.
Check the official ACL Festival schedule page for the latest timetable.
ACL’s ticket situation is now very different depending on which weekend you want.
Weekend One three-day General Admission is on the official waitlist.
The current listed three-day GA price is $390 with no hidden fees.
Weekend One GA+ at $775 is also on the waitlist.
Weekend One VIP reached $1,850 and is on the waitlist.
Weekend One Platinum reached $5,800 and is on the waitlist too.
Weekend Two has a little more breathing room, but not much.
Three-day GA at $390 is on the waitlist.
Weekend Two GA+ at $775 is on the waitlist too.
Weekend Two VIP currently starts at $1,760 and still has an active official Buy Tickets link.
Weekend Two Platinum currently starts at $5,670 and is also still available directly.
Single-day General Admission starts at $170.
Weekend One Friday and Saturday GA are sold out.
Weekend One Sunday GA is still available.
Weekend One GA+ Friday and Saturday are on the waitlist, while Sunday remains available.
Weekend Two GA+ currently has Friday and Sunday available, while Saturday is on the waitlist.
Single-day VIP starts at $710.
Single-day Platinum starts at $2,210.
Weekend One Platinum Saturday is sold out, while Friday and Sunday remain listed for purchase.
There are also Bungalows, Cabanas and private group experiences if your definition of “festival budget” has entered a completely different tax bracket.
A one-day Bungalow starts at $12,500 for a group package, and three-day Bungalows start at $30,000.
Yes, ACL has officially reached the point where a festival product can cost roughly as much as a small car.
Get current availability from the official Austin City Limits 2026 tickets page.
The regular GA ticket gets you into Zilker Park with access to more than 100 performances across nine stages.
You also get access to ACL Eats, bars, concessions, merchandise, water stations, the Art Market and the rest of the normal festival grounds.
GA+ adds a dedicated lounge with seating, shade, its own private bar and upgraded amenities.
VIP is getting a meaningful upgrade in 2026.
Complimentary drinks are back in VIP, and ACL is adding new perks including an air-conditioned lounge and a dedicated VIP entrance.
VIP also includes special viewing areas and premium lounge access.
Platinum goes significantly further.
It includes the benefits from the lower tiers plus premium viewing areas, upgraded hospitality and access to a limited Platinum presale for ACL Fest Nights shows.
ACL has different kids rules for Platinum.
Children 2 and younger are free with a ticketed Platinum adult.
Kids ages 3 through 8 need a Platinum Kids ticket, and anyone 9 or older needs a regular Platinum ticket to enter Platinum areas.
ACL Festival is an all-ages event.
There’s no minimum age to attend.
Children 8 and younger can enter GA, GA+ and VIP without their own festival ticket when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.
The limit is two free children per ticketed adult.
Austin Kiddie Limits is also returning in 2026.
The family area traditionally includes kid-focused performances and interactive activities, giving ACL a very different daytime personality from the average giant festival.
It also means seeing a four-year-old wearing industrial hearing protection while somebody plays indie rock fifty yards away is a completely normal Zilker Park experience.
Austin City Limits doesn’t offer on-site camping.
Tents, RV camping, overnight vehicle camping and overnight stays aren’t permitted on festival grounds.
That isn’t much of a downside here because Zilker Park sits inside Austin rather than an hour outside civilization.
Hotels, rentals and other accommodations are spread throughout the city, although the places closest to Zilker tend to disappear quickly once festival weekends get closer.
ACL also offers Hotel + Festival packages that bundle accommodations with three-day tickets.
That option is especially useful now that several of the normal three-day ticket products have already hit the waitlist.
There’s no festival parking at Zilker Park or in the surrounding neighborhoods.
ACL will offer paid parking options elsewhere in Austin closer to the festival, but driving directly to the gates isn’t a thing.
Public transportation is a strong option.
CapMetro operates several routes near Zilker Park, including MetroRapid Route 803.
ACL also operates free festival shuttle service, with final 2026 shuttle locations and operating hours announced closer to the event.
Walking and biking are probably the most Austin answer.
The Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail gives pedestrians and cyclists access toward the festival grounds.
Rideshare works too, although anybody who has ever watched 70,000 people collectively open Uber after a headliner knows exactly what that sentence eventually turns into.
Get current transportation information from the official ACL Festival transportation guide.
Austin City Limits allows same-day re-entry.
After entering for the first time, you can leave and return two additional times that day.
Your wristband has to be scanned when you leave and again when you return.
You’ll also go through security again on each re-entry.
That policy is unusually useful for a festival sitting this close to a major city.
You can theoretically leave Zilker, do something extremely Austin like spend an hour debating tacos, then come back without sacrificing the rest of your day.
Austin City Limits Music Festival launched in 2002, taking inspiration and its name from the long-running PBS music series Austin City Limits.
The original festival was smaller, shorter and considerably less complicated than the machine that now takes over Zilker Park twice every October.
Over the years, ACL expanded into a three-day event and eventually grew into the current two-weekend format.
Today it hosts roughly 75,000 fans per day and more than 100 performances across nine stages.
The 2026 edition celebrates 25 years of the festival.
That history explains why the lineup feels so broad.
ACL has hosted rock, hip-hop, pop, country, folk, electronic music, R&B, Latin artists and basically every genre Austin audiences have decided belongs in a park.
The 2026 poster feels like a summary of that evolution.
Charli XCX can headline the same weekend as RÜFÜS DU SOL.
Turnstile can appear beside Lorde.
Skrillex can own Weekend One while Kings of Leon takes Weekend Two.
And nobody really needs to ask whether it fits ACL anymore.
If it works in Zilker Park, it fits.
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2026 takes place October 2-4 and October 9-11 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. Festival hours are noon to 10 PM on all six days.
The ACL Festival 2026 lineup includes Charli XCX, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, Lorde, The xx, Turnstile, Labrinth, The Chainsmokers, Lola Young, Young Miko, Bleachers, Geese, SOFI TUKKER, Parcels and The War on Drugs. Skrillex plays Weekend One, while Kings of Leon plays Weekend Two.
Three-day General Admission is currently listed at $390, but both weekends are on the official waitlist. GA+ is $775 and also on waitlist. Weekend Two VIP remains available starting at $1,760 and Weekend Two Platinum starts at $5,670. Single-day GA starts at $170, with availability depending on the day and weekend.
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