Austin City Limits Music Festival 2012

The 11th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival took over the 350 acre Zilker Park in the heart of South Austin, Texas for three days of incredible fun from Oct 12 through 14, 2012. The Fest included everything you would expect to find in a music festival held in the “Live Music Capital of the World” including culinary specialties and libations from thirty of Austin’s most unique establishments; fashionable clothing, fine art, and iconic souvenirs from a plethora of local artisans; a farmer’s market; and over 130 incredible musical acts.

ACL Festival takes over Zilker Park in downtown Austin, Texas, USA.

The acts were distributed throughout the park on eight individual stages for eleven hours each day. The genres of the acts ran the gamut from blues to pop to rock and everything in between. One stage was even solely dedicated to kid’s music.                                                                        


Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel performs at ACL Fest 2012

Some of the musical acts lending their voices to Friday’s session included Asleep at the Wheel, The Wombats, Delta Spirit, Tegan and Sara, Alabama Shakes, Florence and the Machine, and Thievery Corporation. The headline act for the evening was The Black Keys.



Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes performs at Austin City Limits Festival 2012























Saturday brought out another crop of great entertainers including Dev, Rufus Wainwright, Metric, Band of Skulls, Gotye, The Shins, and The Roots. Two great artists vied for the fans attention as two stages presented headliners on this night: Jack White appeared on the west side to the park while Neil Young and Crazy Horse rocked the east side. Though rain fell for part of the day, the fans’ enthusiasm was not dampened in the least.


Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine performs at ACL Fest 2012






















Sunday brought back the sunshine and massive crowds anxious to hear more music. Fans were treated to the likes of Kimbra, Freelance Whales, Needtobreathe, Gary Clark Jr, The Civil Wars, The Avett Brothers, and Iggy and the Stooges. Closing out the festival as the Sunday headliner were the Red Hot Chili Peppers.



Joy Williams and John Paul White of The Civil Wars entertain the crowds at Austin City Limits Festival 2012
















Once again, the 75,000 tickets for each day of this year’s festival were sold out months in advance. The festival organizers and city of Austin officials, knowing a good thing when they see it, have decided to extend next year’s festival to include 2 weekends (Oct 4-6 and 11-13), 3 days each weekend, for a total of 6 music packed days. If you’ve always loved watching the hit PBS music show, Austin City Limits, or dreamed of attending an incredible music festival staged in one of Texas’ and America’s greatest cities, now is your chance. Advanced tickets have already gone on sale. Hope to see you next year.





Review by Margy Moore
Photographs by Scott Moore/ Limelight Imaging