3 Best Performing Arts in Austin, Texas

The iconic PBS music show Austin City Limits is one of the city's treasures, and anyone can see it live. In true ACL fashion, live tapings for each season are still announced to the public at a moment's notice, and general admission is still free for those who wait in line for tickets. The theater also hosts an additional lineup of amazing musical acts throughout the year, independent of the television show's taping schedule. The 2,750-seat auditorium manages to maintain an intimate feel where every seat is a good seat.

As much as Austinites love music, they love being outdoors even more. The result is this six-day fall music festival spanning two weekends in October; it's the unofficial farewell-to-summer shindig that takes over Zilker Park. Fans flock to hear more than 130 international, national, and local acts on eight stages. Featured headliners have included the likes of Bob Dylan, Miley Cyrus, Tom Petty, Björk, Phish, Willie Nelson, Radiohead, and Billie Eilish.

In a restored downtown vaudeville house and movie palace, this gorgeous 1915 theater presents musicals and plays by touring theater companies and hosts concerts by well-known jazz, folk, and rock artists, along with the occasional stand-up comedian and speaker series. In April, it hosts the annual four-day Moontower Comedy Festival, and during the summer, movie lovers escape the heat for the Summer Classic Film Series, featuring time-honored films from Gone with the Wind to The Wizard of Oz.