Austin, TX

Celebrate the Fourth of July in Austin at free spectacular with music, food and fireworks

Published

2 years ago

June 28, 2024

Celebrate the Fourth of July in Austin at free spectacular with music, food and fireworks

The stars won’t be the only part of the night sky that’s big and bright deep in the heart of Texas on the Fourth of July.

If you’re in Austin, Texas, for the holiday, there’s one party in particular worth checking out: Star Spangled Fest. The annual Fourth of July celebration takes place on Thursday, July 4, at Auditorium Shores, located at 900 W. Riverside Drive, and Vic Mathias Shores, 800 W. Riverside Drive, in Austin.

The patriotic bash is presented by the Austin Symphony Orchestra, which will perform before the Fourth of July fireworks blast off over Lady Bird Lake. While the event is entirely free and open to the public, you can drop some cash to elevate your experience at Star Spangled Fest. But we’ll get into that in a moment.

Whether you’ve never been to the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s Fourth of July bash or it’s been a minute since you last attended, allow us to fill you in on all the good fun the free event offers.

From road closures to event activities, here is everything you need to know about Star Spangled Fest, including VIP options.

When does Star Spangled Fest in Austin start?

The Fourth of July fun for Star Spangled Fest starts at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 4, when both GA (free) and VIP (ticketed) areas will open.

There will be a DJ performance at 5 p.m., followed by performances from Tameca Jones at the VIP stage on the Long Center lawn at 5:45 p.m., Bidi Bidi Banda on the main stage by Lady Bird Lake at 6:30 p.m. and Sundance Head on the main stage at 7:15 p.m. The Fourth of July ceremony will start at 8 p.m. followed by the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s free concert at 8:45 p.m.

The Fourth of July fireworks show over Lady Bird Lake will start around 9:30 p.m. Event organizers recommend attendees get familiar with the festival map before arriving. You can find the map here.

What is there to do at Austin Symphony Orchestra’s Fourth of July fest?

There will be many things to do at Star Spangled Fest before the Austin Symphony Orchestra takes the stage at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 4.

After claiming the perfect spot at Auditorium Shores or near Vic Mathias Shores, you can browse market vendor booths, enjoy some family-friendly activities like yard games, grab some grub from one of several local food trucks that will be on-site and enjoy the views of downtown Austin as various performers take the stage.

Guests also can take pictures with Santa, who will be donning summer attire. Event organizers told LoneStarLive.com that lines for photos will be shortest before 8 p.m. If this is something you want to do, be sure to get there early!

Food trucks that will be at Star Spangled Fest include Garbo’s, Dirty Dough, The Corndog Co., Southside Flying Pizza, Shawarma Point, Amy’s Ice Cream, Casey’s New Orleans Snowballs, Espadas de Brazil and Sweeter Than Sour.

There also will be multiple bars on-site for attendees ages 21 and older. If you’re looking to get a boozy drink from one of the bars at Star Spangled Fest, remember that you must consume the entirety of your alcoholic beverage in the bar areas or designated VIP areas before returning to the general event grounds.

What can I bring to the free concert and fireworks show in Austin?

Attendees can bring chairs, blankets, snacks and nonalcoholic drinks in coolers. Guests are not supposed to bring outside alcohol to the event, either. If you feel like being a risk-taker and breaking the rules, that’s entirely up to you.

Glass, grills and personal fireworks — including sparklers — are not allowed at the event. According to the official website, coolers and outside food and beverages are not permitted in VIP areas (including shoreline access) at Star Spangled Fest.

What are the different VIP options, plus the cost?

If you’d like to elevate your Fourth of July experience at the event, you have a few options. Though the event is free and open to the public, there are three types of upgrades attendees can purchase:

Shoreline access
VIP lawn access
VIP reserved tables

Here is what’s included with shoreline access tickets

Shoreline access allows ticket holders to get closer to the stage where the symphony will be playing its free concert and thus closer to Vic Mathias Shores, where the fireworks show will be. These tickets also include access to air-conditioned bathrooms, private access to a cashless bar and prime proximity to food trucks.

Shoreline access tickets start at $35, plus fees. Ticket holders can bring chairs and blankets.

Here is what’s included with VIP lawn access tickets

VIP lawn access grants ticket holders the ability to set up in the VIP lawn area near the Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive, but that’s not all. Those with VIP lawn access tickets also will be able to enter the lobby of the Long Center, premium viewing of the VIP stage that’s located on the Long Center’s hillside lawn, access to air-conditioned bathrooms, lawn games and access to a private bar.

VIP lawn access tickets start at $75, plus fees. Children 10 and younger get in free.

Here is what’s included with VIP reserved tables

VIP reserved tables offer attendees a top-tier Fourth of July experience. These tickets include 10 seats at a designated VIP table, family style dinner at each table, a private bar that’s cashless, access to the Long Center’s lobby and air-conditioned bathrooms, access to the Shoreline viewing area at Vic Mathias Shores, where the fireworks show will take place, access to the VIP after party and a VIP parking pass.

You can get tickets for an entire VIP reserved table for $2,500, plus fees. Or you can reserve half of a VIP table (five seats) for $1,250, plus fees. Payments for VIP reserved tables will serve as donations to the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

You can purchase VIP tickets, including shoreline access tickets, here.

Where can I park for the Fourth of July fireworks in downtown Austin?

Road closures for Star Spangled Fest might impact how you access the event. West Riverside Drive between Lee Barton Drive and South First Street will be closed from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 4.

South First Street will be closed from Cesar Chavez Street to Barton Springs Road from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Thursday, July 4. South Congress Avenue will be closed from Cesar Chavez Street to Barton Springs Road from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., too.

The stress-free way to go, according to event organizers, is taking a rideshare or a cab to the event. Rideshare pickup and drop off will be located at the intersection of Lee Barton Road and West Riverside Drive.

Given the numerous closures, your best bet for parking will be in one of the several parking garages in downtown Austin, along Barton Springs Road and at the Long Center. Street parking will be available, too, but make sure to check signs as some street parking will be blocked off.

As a reminder, you cannot park on most streets in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood. There will be no parking signs and signs indicating residential permit parking only. If you find a spot in a nearby neighborhood, ensure you’re good to go by looking for no parking signs before leaving your car and heading to the event.

You can find road closure maps and specific parking garage information here.

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Austin, TX

Protest against ICE in Austin leads to arrests and claims of police aggression

Published

1 hour ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Protest against ICE in Austin leads to arrests and claims of police aggression

AUSTIN, Texas — Tensions remained high in downtown Austin on Sunday following an anti-ICE protest that organizers say ended with multiple arrests and an aggressive police response.

Members of the activist group Dare to Struggle Austin said they had been gathered outside the Travis County Jail since 9 p.m. Saturday as they awaited the release of protesters taken into custody during the demonstration.

During a Sunday afternoon press conference, organizers described what they called a brutal response by law enforcement during the protest, which they said drew more than 100 people to the area outside the JJ Pickle Federal Building downtown.

The protest was held in response to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Organizers accused both the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Austin Police Department of cracking down on demonstrators, saying officers charged into the crowd using bicycles and fired pepper spray pellets.

At least seven people were arrested, according to organizers, including one person they say was detained after the protest had ended while walking to their car. The Austin Police Department estimates they will have more accurate arrest numbers to report on Monday.

Police detain protesters as tensions rise at Austin’s ‘End ICE Terror’ protest

The confrontation followed hours of escalating tension between protesters and law enforcement, and as demonstrators blocked traffic at a busy downtown intersection.

“I think that it’s definitely not okay that people are dying in detention centers and getting shot by ICE agents,” said Emilia, a member of Dare to Struggle Austin. “That’s what’s important, not traffic.”

At Sunday’s press conference, the group called for all arrested protesters to be released and for charges against them to be dropped. Organizers also demanded murder charges against Jonathon Ross and all ICE agents involved in Good’s death, charges against officers they accuse of using excessive force, and for ICE to leave Austin.

Gov. Greg Abbott responded to the protest on social media, writing “Texas is not Minnesota,” and saying the Texas Department of Public Safety would not put up with defiant protesters.

In a statement to CBS Austin, he said, “What happened in Minnesota is the direct result of years of reckless and dangerous rhetoric from national Democratic leaders. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers have the right to defend themselves while carrying out their lawful responsibility. Using a vehicle as a weapon, threatening officers, or attempting to obstruct the enforcement of the law is dangerous and inexcusable. ICE agents should never have to fear for their lives for doing their jobs. In Texas, we back the men and women in uniform, we enforce the law, and put public safety as a top priority.” – Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

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Austin, TX

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

Published

13 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

AUSTIN — For the first time in modern Texas politics, Democrats will field candidates in every one of the state’s 150 House districts.

It’s a milestone party leaders hope will boost turnout, money and organization up and down the ballot, even as Gov. Greg Abbott enters the cycle with a well-tested ground game of his own.

Democratic leaders say the move is less about flipping deeply red districts and more about expanding the electorate and forcing Republicans to defend territory they have long taken for granted.

Houston Rep. Christina Morales, the new chief of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said a full slate of candidates creates infrastructure that can benefit statewide races, regardless of the odds in individual districts.

Campaigns that once existed only on paper now bring door-knocking, phone banking and voter registration efforts, she said.

Morales also is coordinating with national Democrats, trying to harness energy from Texas’ high-profile Senate race, marked by a bitter GOP feud.

In that primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston.

The Democratic Senate contest, featuring state Rep. James Talarico of Austin and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, has drawn wide voter interest and donor support.

But attention and money only go so far.

Abbott enters the cycle with a major advantage: a mature, statewide voter-mobilization network built over decades of Republican control.

“Abbott has made it his own,” said longtime GOP strategist Thomas Graham, citing sustained relationship-building at the precinct level and focus on local concerns. “Democrats are still rebuilding a statewide party. The ground game heavily favors the governor.”

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Austin, TX

Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

article

The main switchyard at a Midlothian power plant. The federal government is sending Texas more than $60 million to strengthen the state’s power grid. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune

Texas is home to approximately 400 data centers — some currently operational, others still under construction and a number that are still in the planning stages. Experts say the boom comes with a lot of uncertainty.

Texas data center power demand

What they’re saying:

“Data centers are a relatively large power demand in a small area, something like, you know, 100 or 200 megawatts of power. That’s more than a small city or a small town would be consuming itself,” said Carey King, a research scientist with the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Over the past year, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has received more than 200 gigawatts worth of large load interconnection requests, approximately 73% of which are from data centers. That has led to questions about whether the state’s grid is up to the task of supplying power to the facilities.

“Many of us who suffered through winter storm Uri still have PTSD over, you know, fears that the grid won’t be able to meet demand,” said Luke Metzger, the executive director of Environment Texas, a local nonprofit working to safeguard the state’s natural environment.

Question of infrastructure

That’s not the only question. King points out that there is also a question of whether all the proposed data centers will actually be built. He says if they don’t end up materializing, it could spell trouble for anyone making investment decisions based on the projections. And if infrastructure is built to accommodate the needs of projects that never come to fruition, those costs could be passed off to consumers in the form of higher rates.

Experts say these speculative data center projects have led to uncertainty around how much power will actually be needed to meet the demands of the state’s data centers.

Senate Bill 6, which was signed into law last June, outlined new requirements for data center projects, including stipulating that data centers put up more capital up front for things like transmission studies and interconnection fees. The bill is, in part, intended to reduce some of that uncertainty around speculative power loads.

Potential environmental impact

But concerns still remain around the potential environmental impact of the state’s data centers.

“There are an estimated 130 new gas-powered power plants that have been proposed for Texas, in part to meet this demand for data centers, and if they’re all built, that’s going to have as much climate pollution as 27 million cars,” said Metzger.

Above all, Metzger says the biggest uncertainty is water, as there is no central entity in the state that collects and compiles information on those needs.

On average, a single data center consumes millions of gallons of water annually, according to researchers with the University of Michigan. Metzger says that’s of particular concern here in Texas, where water supply is already being pushed to its limits.

“Texas is a very drought-prone state, and already, you know, you know, according to the Water Development Board, you know, we don’t have enough supply to meet demand,” said Metzger. “There is no way to make more water. And so, I think ultimately, you know that that could be the greatest concern for the state.”

Over the past year, residents across Central Texas have spoken out about data centers in places like Round Rock and Taylor, citing additional concerns including falling property values, noise, and health impacts.

What’s next:

Moving forward, experts recommend that local leaders undergo long-range planning to determine whether they’re able to allocate limited resources to data centers in the long run prior to approving these projects.

The Source: Information in this article comes from FOX 7 interviews with experts.

TexasTechnologyEnvironment

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