The fun begins this Friday, Nov. 7 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 9 at Auditorium Shores. Sunday passes and resale tickets are still available. Let’s chow down.
Here’s a challenge: See how many of these areas you can visit over the weekend.
Graphic via Austin Food & Wine Festival
Local eats to try
This year, some cuisines are trending: American, Mexican, Italian, and barbecue are among the most popular. Austin-based restaurants are showing up in a big way this year — we recommend putting these at the top of your list.
Around 63% of Austinites voted to reject Prop Q — a property tax increase that would have generated ~$109.5 million for the new budget — during Tuesday’s election. That means City Council will revisit the upcoming budget to evaluate cuts.
Biz
Colossal Biosciences, the de-extinction company working to resurrect the dire wolves and woolly mammoths, acquired luxury Cedar Park-based animal cloning business Viagen Pets and Equine. Spokespeople for Colossal said the company’s world-class tech will help make cloning more affordable and advance conservation. (KVUE)
Opening
Jo’s Coffee will open a new location in West Campus this Friday, Nov. 7. To celebrate, guests can stop in for a free drip coffee from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. on opening day, or buy “The Longhorn Latte” with maple, peach, cinnamon, and whipped cream.
Outdoors
5:39 p.m. That’s how early the sun will set tonight, but it’s not the earliest of the year. The sun will go down at its earliest — around 5:30 p.m. — between Tuesday, Nov. 25 and Tuesday, Dec. 9. That means sunrises will also get later. (KXAN)
Quoted
Florida-based investment firm Pride Holdings will no longer acquire LGBTQ+ bar Cheer Up Charlies as both businesses agreed to part ways. There doesn’t appear to be bad blood, as co-owner Maggie Lea said “I have nothing bad to say about them. It just didn’t work out.” (KUT)
Coming Soon
Zara’s location at The Domain is set to reopen this month following renovations over the summer that tripled its size. The clothing store went from 11,000 sqft to 35,000 sqft over four months with the closure of Forever 21 next door. (Community Impact)
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Shop
If you’re a Costco shopper, you know about the $1.50 hot dog. But are you in on these other 10 lesser-known hacks all Costco shoppers should know about?*
Culture
Culture
Honey, ACL Festival is home
Don’t worry, the festival isn’t going anywhere. | Photo by Greg Noire
The annual, two-weekend event will continue to be held at Zilker Park — where it has been since the first edition in 2002 — through 2040.
Per an agreement between C3 Presents and The City of Austin, ACL Festival will also continue to be held around the first two weekends of October.
The 2024 event generated $8.4 million for the restoration of local parks, and $71 million since its partnership with Austin Parks Foundation began in 2006. Read more about how ACL Festival contributes to Zilker Park.
The fun doesn’t have to end here. After reading the newsletter, head over to our games page. Games refresh with new challenges every day at 6 a.m. from crossword puzzle to Sudoku to themed word search.
By the way, if you’re not able to make Austin Food & Wine Fest this year, there are plenty of other ways to experience Austin’s culinary delights. Austin Mac + Cheese Festival is on Sunday, Nov. 16, and there are plenty more food festivals in the spring.
