For the past 25 years, the Austin City Limits Music Festival has brought thousands of music fans to Zilker Park. With a rain-or-shine policy, festival goers know the show must go on, but Weekend One put that promise to the test. From October 2–4, 2026, muddy conditions across the festival grounds earned the weekend the nickname “Mud Fest.” As Weekend Two approached, the question became how the festival grounds would recover.
Day 1 the grounds were already destroyed, festivalgoers trek through mud to attend sets. 
At the show before the headliner, attendees found themselves ankle deep in mud, some not preparing for the weather. 
Many attendees wore boots, ponchos, and clothes they did not mind getting dirty as they dealt with the mud. 
By day 2, ACL staff had rolled out turf for festivalgoers to walk on as well as sit on. 
The mud was so bad that professional equipment was used to allocate it into piles around the park. 
By weekend 2, festival goers still wore boots in preparation for the mud they had seen in preparation for the festival. 
Despite having mostly dried up, there were still a few mud holes across the park weekend 2. 
Before W2, the staff had rolled out even more artificial grass to prep for another round of attendees. 
The ground was dried up, but the grass was very obviously scarce across Zilker Park due to the conditions of W1. 
Festival goers walk across the turf to attend other sets, and others sit in the shade under the tree on the artificial grass. 
At other stages during W2, they had placed large plastic platforms to assist in keeping attendees out of the mud from W1. 
They had turf across the whole park by W2, especially in popular sitting areas to help with the mud. 
Many attendees didn’t wear boots on the final day due to most of the mud being dried, and some even wore sandals. 
By the end of W2, many attendees were comfortable bringing blankets to lounge on while they enjoy the music. 
The remnants of what the mud had done to their beer tent entrance, here you can see just how much mud was being tracked in and out. 
Attendees wait for the festival to attend on another patch of artificial turf. 
The remnants of the final day of W2, where another stage had plastic platforms to avoid the mud. 
A volunteer picks up trash across the park, concluding the muddiest ACL since 2009.
