Which Austin spring music festival is right for you? An explainer
Fans watch Nelly and City Spud perform on the Big River stage at Two Step Inn at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas on Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman)
Now that South by Southwest Music Festival has come and gone, Austin's music lovers are in search of their next concert fix. Lucky for us, April and early May come jam-packed with music festivals across every genre to fill the void until Spring.
Use our explainer to decide which one is right for you.
Clay Walker performs at Cattle Country Music Festival in Gonzales, Texas on April 12, 2025. (Jaclynn Pierce/Cattle Country)
You are: A Red Dirt superfan; cowboy boots are your formal footwear.
Your dream festival includes: Floating the Guadalupe River, camping and/or glamping.
The third annual Cattle Country is back in Gonzales. The stacked celebration features country music sensations Koe Wetzel and Treaty Oak Revival, plus Randy Houser, Robert Earl Keen, Josh Abbott Band and more.
Set on a sprawling 400-acre ranch just over an hour southeast of Austin, Cattle Country Festival offers camping under shaded pecan tree groves along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The festival has GA camping areas, as well as RV parking and a VIP glamping village, which comes with a private lounge. Food and drink will be available for purchase on site, and vendors will be set up for shopping between live sets.
Fishing and floating in Cowboy Coves located at "The Boot" are encouraged. Single-day general admission tickets are $140 and three-day passes are $249, with discounts for military personnel, teachers, students, first responders and area locals based on zip code. Single-day VIP tickets are listed at $279 and $499 for the weekend. Premium VIP increases to $439 for single-day access and $899 for the weekend.
Old Settlers Music Festival is taking place April 17-19, 2026 in Driftwood, Texas. (Alejandra Gutierrez/Old Settlers)
You are: Somehow immune to cedar fever while the rest of us drown in a pile of tissues, a lover of quick-picking roots tunes.
Your dream festival includes: Pitching a tent under a canopy of live oaks, campfire jams.
The nonprofit festival is back for its 39th year of live music and camping. The Americana, roots and bluegrass lineup includes Railroad Earth, the Brothers Comatose, Shinyribs, Louisiana Surf Department, the Last Revel, Lindsay Lou and more.
Camping is available on the Camp Ben McCulloch grounds beneath live oaks and along Onion Creek. You can bring a tent and camp throughout the grounds on a first-come, first-served basis. Early camping begins on April 14 and a limited number of electrical hookups are available for purchase.
Single-day GA Friday and Saturday tickets are sold out, as well as three-day GA passes. GA Sunday tickets are still available for $55. RV and car camping passes are also sold out, but glamping and tent rental add-ons are still available to purchase in addition to your festival ticket.
Austin Reggae Fest is taking place at Auditorium Shores on April 17-19, 2026 in Austin. (Jess Gallo/Austin Reggae Fest)
Your dream festival includes: Celebrating 4/20 early with jokers, smokers and midnight tokers.
Since 1994, the annual festival has celebrated Bob Marley's legacy with reggae at Auditorium Shores. Austin Reggae Fest has donated more food to the Central Texas Food Bank than any other event in the past 30 years.
Self-described as "the happiest, chillest, dopest weekend of your life," this year's headliners include Bob Marley's son Stephen Marley. Joining him on Friday are Steel Pulse, Collie Buddz, Mike Love, Eli-Mac and Zion Marley - son of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley. Saturday brings Original Koffee, plus Tribal Seeds, Hirie, Groundation, Irie Souljah and Cas Haley. Sunday rounds things out with Iration, Fortunate Youth, Protoje, Jesse Royal, Through the Roots, Rik Jam and Audic Empire.
Single-day general admission tickets are $53, with the option to upgrade to VIP on Friday for $113 or for $103 on Saturday and Sunday. Two-day GA passes for Friday and Saturday are $98, while Saturday and Sunday are $88. Weekend GA passes start at $133, with an optional GA+ upgrade for $148. Three-day weekend VIP tickets are $258, and Platinum VIP passes are $653.
Attendees sit in camp chairs and watch Sierra Ferrell perform on the Big River stage at the Two Step Inn country music festival at San Gabriel Park on Sunday, April 21, 2024 in Georgetown, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman)
You are: A country music lover who also appreciates a few throwback rock songs.
Your dream festival includes: Listening to tunes while kicked back in a canvas chair and/or two-stepping in a public park.
Brooks & Dunn and Chris Stapleton headline the fourth-annual country festival taking place at Georgetown's San Gabriel Park. Saturday plays host to Goo Goo Dolls and BigXThaPlug, while Sunday showcases The Red Clay Strays and Tedeschi Trucks Band. Other standout acts include Randy Travis, Tracy Lawrence, Wade Bowen, Clay Walker and Randy Rogers Band.
San Gabriel Park will be fit with dance floors, a Central Texas fair and vendors selling homestyle goods. All tickets for Two Step Inn are already on waitlists, but at press time, some were available on resale sites starting at $240 for a single-day GA pass and $313 for a weekend pass.
Percussionist Mike Ashton-Moore plays in a drum circle at the 58th annual Eeyore's Birthday Party at Pease District Park on Saturday, April 29, 2023 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez / American-Statesman)
You are: An authentic Austin hippie.
Your dream festival includes: Enjoying all forms of (ahem) grass. Also tutus.
The free, all-ages fest features whimsical costumes, drum circles, live music, hula hooping and the free-spirited atmosphere that defined Austin's roots. The festival's organizers, Friends of the Forest Foundation, have donated over $268,000 to local charities through proceeds from beer sales, T-shirts, kids' games and other merchandise. The event is run by unpaid volunteers, and food vendors within the park are also nonprofits raising funds for their causes.
Fans watch Mavis Staples perform during the Austin Blues Festival in the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park on Sunday, April 27, 2025 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman)
You are: A Stevie Ray Vaughan and/or Antone's superfan.
Your dream festival includes: Enjoying the blues with brews and good foods.
The heart of Austin sits within a blues ribcage. In 1999, Clifford Antone hosted the first Antone's Blues Festival at Waterloo Park, which, over its three years, hosted the likes of Buddy Guy and Ray Charles. This year, Antone's and Waterloo Greenway will bring national blues talent back to Moody Amphitheater for the fourth year since the fest's reincarnation.
Jimmie Vaughan and Eric Johnson headline on Saturday, and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic on Sunday. The fest also features BadBadNotGood, Adrian Quesada's Boleros Psicodélicos, the War and Treaty, Chaparelle, Larkin Poe and more.
Single-Day upper lawn GA tickets are $89, while lower lawn GA tickets are $109. Weekend upper lawn GA access is $159, and the lower lawn is $209. Designated reserve seating ranges from $259 to $359, and all VIP Hill tickets are sold out.
Austin Psych Fest is taking place at the Far Out Lounge on May 8-10, 2026 in Austin. (Ismael Quintanilla III/APF)
You are: Someone who bares their soul for rock and roll.
Your dream festival includes: Lone Star, laser lights and lots of wah pedal.
Austin Psych Fest is coming back to the Far Out Lounge to once again pay homage to Austin's '60s rock heritage. This year's lineup includes the Flaming Lips, Thee Sacred Souls, The Black Angels, La Lom, Melody's Echo Chamber, DIIV, Ty Segall, Momma, Glare, Night Beats, Trish Toledo, Boogarins, Holy Wave Starcleaner Reunion, Money Chica and more.
Single-day GA tickets are $92, with a deluxe upgrade for $211. Two-day GA passes are $185. Weekend GA tickets are $265 and include an option to upgrade to deluxe for $624 and super deluxe for $1,151. Tickets are also available for APF's late-night kickoff shows on May 7: Esprit at Elysium ($43), Frankie and The Witch Fingers at Mohawk ($39) and The Well at 13th Floor ($24).
Rene Nuñez, right, and Delia Gonzalez, left, unfold a Mexican flag near the entrance at Bésame Mucho at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, April 5, 2025 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman)
There is no indication that Bésame Mucho will return to Austin in 2026. The Latin music festival, which took place at Circuit of the Americas the last two years, hasn't made any announcements regarding this year's event, and its website remains inactive. Festival organizers did not host an event in their home city Los Angeles last year after a December 2024 event at Dodger Stadium was canceled a month before it was supposed to take place.
The American-Statesman has not received a response from Bésame Mucho organizers, Circuit of the Americas or the festival's local promoter, C3 Presents, about a 2026 event in Austin.
