Zilker's Great Lawn partly reopens Saturday after a muddy ACL. What the city and parks board are doing next

Part of Zilker Park's Great Lawn reopens Saturday, Oct. 31, almost two weeks later than planned after a muddy Austin City Limits Music Festival. The city announced the partial reopening on Tuesday.

For anyone who uses Austin's best-known park, that means the western section of the lawn will be open again and stay open through the holidays. The rest of the lawn is being turned over to Trail of Lights setup, so it will not fully reopen until after that event.

What reopens, and what doesn't

According to the city:

• Open Oct. 31: the western Great Lawn, Stratford Drive and the Stratford parking lot.
• Volleyball courts: open Oct. 31 through Nov. 16.
• Still closed: Lou Neff Road, for the whole holiday season.
• Trail of Lights: the rest of the lawn moves to Trail of Lights operations "over the coming weeks." Restoration will finish after the Trail of Lights load-out.

The city said its turf and Zilker maintenance crews worked with C3, the festival's producer, and its contractors on debris removal, irrigation repairs, aeration, rye seeding and watering. The volleyball courts were tilled and screened, and areas south of Barton Springs Road were hydroseeded. Updates are posted at AustinTexas.gov/ParkClosures.

Why it took longer

The park was supposed to reopen Oct. 19, KUT reported. The city kept it closed for more work after rain left the lawn muddy during the festival's first weekend, which drew public concern about damage. The city told KUT there was no permanent damage.

A Texas A&M turfgrass specialist told KUT the park's native clay soil drains slowly, which likely caused the puddles, and that "the grass can be recovered" with aeration, irrigation and fertilizer. Restoration costs are covered by the city's agreement with C3, KUT reported. Restoring the lawn cost more than $20,000 in 2024. This year's cost won't be known until the work is done.

What our records add

The question reached the council. During general public comment at the Oct. 22 council meeting, one speaker asked the council to commission a study of whether Zilker is the best place for ACL. The speaker said residents lose access to large parts of the park for about eight weeks each fall, counting setup, the festival, teardown and repair. Council members did not respond from the dais, and no item on the subject is on the council's Nov. 5 agenda.

The parks board took it up. The Parks and Recreation Board's Oct. 26 agenda included a proposal to create a working group on "the preservation, conservation, restoration and sustainability of Zilker Park," sponsored by board members Luai Abou-Emara, Ted Eubanks and Kim Taylor. The board's posted recommendations from that night do not yet show the outcome.

Zilker and the bonds. When the council debated the parks and library bond package on Aug. 4, District 8 Council Member Paige Ellis, whose district includes Zilker, called it the park system's "crown jewel" and said it "gets beaten up a bit" by heavy use. She cited erosion control near Barton Springs and tree replanting as needs. That package is now Propositions A and B on the Nov. 3 ballot. Our bond story has the council's 8-3 vote.

Where festival money goes. The festival also funds park work beyond the lawn. At a June 2025 council committee meeting, Austin Parks Foundation staff said a significant portion of the foundation's funding comes from ACL, including $4.5 million for park improvement projects from the 2024 festival.

Other Zilker spending. In May the council approved, 10-0 on consent, a $5.42 million construction contract for the Zilker Clubhouse project.

What's next

The western lawn opens Saturday. Setup for the Trail of Lights, which begins in December according to KUT, takes over the rest of the lawn, and Lou Neff Road stays closed through the season. The parks board's minutes for Oct. 26, once approved, will show whether the Zilker working group was created.