Festivals that help keep Austin weird

South By Southwest

One of the Austin’s famous music festivals, SXSW is only a month away! Over spring break from March 10-19, more than 150 artists from more than 26 different countries will perform at different indoor and outdoor venues all over Austin. Juniors Milla Cypert and Alex Baker and freshman Andrew Baker are serving as volunteers at SXSW this year. “I’m excited to volunteer because I think that it will be fun, I’ll get to see all the different unique bands, meet new people, and get my hours in for volunteering; it’s a good way to do it,” Andrew said.

The music expresses a variety of styles such as hip hop, indie rock, electronic, americana, and R&B. Buy your tickets online at SXSW.com/attend/ and listen to unique artists in the music capital of the world.

 

Eeyore’s Birthday

Starting at 11 a.m. and going until dusk, the 54th celebration will be held on April 29 in Pease Park. There is no entry fee, and this event raises money for charity by selling drinks and food. Every year more than 1,000 people attend to join in the live music, activities and costume contests. This festival mixes old Austin with new Austin culture, showing off the really weird of Austin.

 

Pecan Street Festival

The annual Pecan Street Festival is one of the many ways Austin expresses its unique culture through music, arts and crafts. There are kid-friendly petting zoos, face painting, street musicians and rides. The 2017 Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on May 6 and from 11 a.m. to 8 a.m. May 7 on Sixth Street between Brazos and IH 35. There is no entry fee, and the Pecan Street Association is a nonprofit organization whose proceeds go to several local nonprofit groups.

 

“There are lots of people walking up and down the streets lined with tents and vendors,” sophomore Jonah Razor said. “It has lots of different food and unusual vendors selling odd things that maybe you aren’t expecting but enjoyed anyways. It’s a very Austin-y event that’s pretty cool and fun to be at.”

 

Bug Eating Festival

You see vendors giving out what looks like chocolate bars until upon closer inspection you see there are wings and legs sticking out if them. There are kids crunching on beetle bars and eating fried crickets, and people milling around sampling chocolate covered mealworms. During the summer and located at in.gredients 2610 Manor Road, this festival’s goal is to promote using insects for food as an environmentally sound and economically viable source of nutrition.

 

“I was skeptical at first about eating bugs,” junior Alex Baker said, “but I saw everyone else do it so I did too. It didn’t taste like a bug — it tasted more like popcorn.”