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Austin already had a lineup at the ready, but now the Austin City Limits Festival schedule is live and the real planning can begin. With a few tough-to-pick slots revealed, here are CultureMap’s first impressions. The biggest priority: picking a side of the park and sticking with it.
This year there are tons of artists that will only play one weekend (either October 6-8, or 13-15), which used to be a rarity. For instance, of the 38 Friday artists across the entire festival, only 16 — less than half — will perform both weekends.
Some that might be worth basing a decision on are: the funky-but-indie Half Alive, electro-funk duo Chromeo, and super dramatic rock group The Mars Volta during Weekend 1; and R&B family band We Don’t Ride Llamas, iconic indie pop duo Tegan and Sara, violinist Sudan Archives, and French electronic savants M83 during Weekend two. Tennesee rapper GloRilla plays different days each weekend, but will still be here for both.
One very notable exception are Shania Twain (Weekend 1) and The 1975 (Weekend 2), which sure sound like a generational divide. We don’t anticipate seeing too many broken hearts about having to make this choice, discussed below.
Headlining decisions should be pretty easy for most attendees, especially because there is sort of a small headliner and a big headliner each night — the latter playing slightly later. If you’re okay with missing parts of the later show, it’s a very common move to migrate over a little late.
Friday
Between Kendrick Lamar and the Lumineers, in 2023, it feels like a pretty obvious choice. The Lumineers have some good tunes, but Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest innovators in hip-hop, at least, if not the whole industry. But it’ll all come down to mood: how do you want to feel at the end of the first day: inspired to make a difference in the world or held in a folksy hammock of harmonies?
It might be more important to look at who’s coming first, and the festival did a good job dividing the physical space by genre. On Weekend 1, The Mars Volta might override everything, and they’re much closer to the Lumineers, so it’d at least be worth a drive-by viewing on the way to Kendrick, who will much better match the energy of the earlier band.
For both weekends, fans of Maggie Rogers — who Jane Fonda just praised as the next big thing — and Portugal the Man will be in just the right place to keep the mellower vibes going with the Lumineers. But people who want to catch Lil Yachty will also be able to stick around for Kali Uchis — who has been increasingly recognized as an extremely charismatic performer — while hoping to be towards the front for Lamar.
In those earlier slots when the sun is blazing, consider checking out folk group Bailen. This grounded group will be great to listen to while transitioning into festival mode, and are sure to give a versatile performance (that sometimes dips into Fleetwood Mac territory with stacked vocals and strong bass lines).
Saturday
This is when festival-goers give it their all; They’ve got a day off from work, youthful optimism, and only a one-night hangover. Shania Twain and Foo Fighters headline on Weekend 1, and The 1975 and Foo Fighters will headline Weekend 2. And there’s nothing wrong with seeing Foo Fighters twice, especially after the new album, But Here We Are. It’s also the first opportunity for many to experience the band with their new drummer, Josh Freese.
Between Shania and The 1975, it looks like the older girls are going country and the younger girls are…kissing Matty Healy? Not to cancel the English singer — since fans did ask — but Miss Twain is going to be feeling like a woman, and probably not feeling women.
The bands slotted before are similarly well-matched (compared to Friday), except for the insane decision to put famed country singer Tanya Tucker before the Foos and not Twain. But given the strength of the lineup on the Foo’s side of the festival — starting with the young and cool Declan McKenna, moving through Mt. Joy, Alanis Morissette, and the meteorically successful Noah Kahan — it feels like a no brainer to spend the day over there.
If you do feel like changing locations, Dripping Springs-based artist Ben Kweller will be a great starting point, followed immediately by rising queer icon Rina Sawayama, whose fashion and stage presence can’t be missed for avid pop fans.
Sunday
An underrated day at ACL; Folks are satisfied enough with what they’ve already achieved for the weekend, but still have a little fire left in them. Sorry to tell you this, but there is someone worth getting there for before 1 pm. Madison Cunningham, a versatile and semi-jazzy singer-songwriter is critically acclaimed for being smart and surprising, but still strongly listenable. This restraint will do wonders kicking off a relatively relaxed day, without trigging that here-in-the-sun-again exhaustion.
Sunday’s headliners are pretty solidly in opposition: Americana, courtesy of Mumford and Sons, and EDM via Odesza (stylized ODESZA). The latter, despite a more niche level of name recognition, will probably put on a more broadly appealing show. Not everyone is into the banjo (although they should give it a strong chance), but Odesza is known for having an incredible live act. It’ll be a lot more danceable, too, for shaking off that long, hot weekend.
This writer feels agnostic about which side of the park to stick around. On one hand, the aforementioned M83 should put on a really fun show on Weekend 2, which will lead nicely into a high-energy festival favorite, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Next up would be Cigarettes After Sex — formed in El Paso, but based in Brooklyn — but the energy might not hold up through the dream pop set. Death Grips, though, the experimental rap group, should fit right between those two more energetically demanding sets if you want to make the trek all the way over to the Barton Springs stage.
On the other hand — more literally, on the other side of the park — Niall Horan (formerly of One Direction) and Hozier are forming a little Irish alliance that sounds perfect for a relaxing Sunday cool-down.
Whatever choices a festival-goer makes on paper, the beauty of ACL is that it’ll all fall apart the moment you hear something weird going on at the Tito’s Stage. Stay tuned for recommendations more along those lines — once we’ve had a chance to take a good, long listen.
See the full schedule at aclfestival.com.
Ticketing alerts straight from the official announcement:
“Most 3-Day Tickets to ACL Fest are now On Waitlist. Limited Friday and Sunday 1-Day GA, GA+, VIP and Platinum Tickets remain… while supplies last!
Heads up: 1-Day GA Tickets for Friday, October 6 will be sold out soon!”
Several Houston elementary and middle schools are at the top of the class when it comes to educating and preparing the next generation for a successful life and career, according to U.S. News & World Report’s just-released list of 2025 Elementary and Middle Schools Rankings.
One such school – T.H. Rogers School in Houston ISD – is the No. 8 best middle school in Texas for 2025.
U.S. News ranked over 79,000 public schools on the state and district level using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on their students’ proficiencies in mathematics and reading/language arts on state assessments, and tie-breakers were decided based on student-teacher ratios.
Texas’ best middle schools for 2025
Three Houston middle schools achieved spots among the top 10 best Texas middle schools for 2025, according to U.S. News.
T.H. Rogers School has a total enrollment of 1,063 students, with 87 percent of the student population scoring “at or above the proficient level” in mathematics, and 90 percent proficiency in reading. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 17:1, with 62 full-time teachers.
T.H. Rogers School also topped the district-wide list as the No. 1 best middle school in HISD.
Houston Gateway Academy – Coral Campus also ranked among the statewide top 10, coming in at No. 9 with a total enrollment of 914 students. U.S. News says 82 percent of HGA students are proficient in math, and 80 percent are proficient in reading.
“Houston Gateway Academy – Coral Campus did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state,” U.S. News said in the school’s profile. “In Texas, 51 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 41 percent tested at or above that level for math.”
Right behind HGA to round out the top 10 best Texas middle schools is Houston ISD’s Briarmeadow Charter School. This middle school has 600 students, 69 percent of which are proficient in math and 74 percent are proficient reading.
Briarmeadow’s student-teacher ratio is 16:1, which is better than the district-wide student-teacher ratio, and it employs 38 full-time teachers.
U.S. News also ranked Briarmeadow as the second best middle school in Houston ISD.
Six additional Houston-area schools ranked among the top 25 best middle schools in Texas, including:
- No. 18 – Cornerstone Academy, Spring Branch ISD
- No. 19 – Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston ISD
- No. 21 – Smith Middle School, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
- No. 22 – Seven Lakes Junior High, Katy ISD
- No. 23 – Houston Gateway Academy
- No. 25 – Beckendorff Junior High, Katy ISD
The best elementary schools in Texas
Jesus A. Kawas Elementary school in Laredo was crowned the No. 1 elementary school in Texas for 2025, while two Houston-area schools made it into the top 10.
Tomball ISD’s Creekside Forest Elementary in The Woodlands is the No. 7 best elementary school statewide, boasting 656 students, 42 full-time teachers, and one full-time counselor. Students at this school, which U.S. News designates is situated in a “fringe rural setting,” scored 90 percent efficiency in math and 94 percent efficiency in reading.
Following one spot behind Creekside Forest in the statewide ranking is Sugar Land’s Commonwealth Elementary School in Fort Bend ISD, coming in at No. 8. Commonwealth has a student population of 954 with 55 full-time teachers, and two full-time counselors. The school’s student-teacher ratio is 17:1, and 90 percent of students are proficient in math, and 94 percent in reading.
U.S. News says student success at Commonwealth is significantly higher than the rest of Fort Bend ISD.
Other Houston-area schools that were ranked among the 25 best in Texas are:
- No. 13 – Bess Campbell Elementary, Sugar Land, Lamar CISD
- No. 20 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD
- No. 23 – T.H. Rogers School, Houston ISD
- No. 25 – Griffin Elementary, Katy ISD
“The 2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer parents a way to evaluate how schools are providing a high-quality education and preparing students for future success,” said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., the managing editor for Education at U.S. News. “The data empowers families and communities to advocate for their children’s education. Research continues to indicate that how students perform academically at these early grade levels is a big factor in their success in high school and beyond.”
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) on Monday released a nuclear energy plan aimed at strengthening the state’s power grid.
The plan is laid out in the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group Report, which Abbott directed PUCT to create last year. The report outlines the use and benefits of advanced nuclear reactors (ANRs) in Texas.
The report lists five main benefits of nuclear power in the state:
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Enhancing energy security by providing power for urban centers, ports, oil and gas regions, industrial facilities, data centers and military bases
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Improving grid reliability through nuclear power, as opposed to coal, wind and solar power
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Economic development and industry opportunities by adding jobs in the state
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First-in-nation advantages by being “the first state with an efficient ANR strategy”
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Global market potential by establishing the state as the preferred supplier for U.S.-based ANR technology
Abbott said that the nuclear energy plan would also provide more affordable power to Texans.
“Texas is the energy capital of the world, and we are ready to be No. 1 in advanced nuclear power,” Abbott said. “…I thank Public Utility Commissioner Jimmy Glotfelty and the members of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group for working tirelessly to put Texas on the path to be the global leader in advanced nuclear power. As we build an advanced nuclear industry in our great state, we will ensure Texas remains a leader in energy and strengthen the Texas grid to meet the demands of our growing state.”
According to the report, these Texas regions would be likely candidates for ANR development:
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Coastal: Galveston, Port of Corpus Christi Authority, Beaumont, Houston Ship Channel
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Rio Grande Valley: Port of Brownsville
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Inland: Victoria, government/university lands, industrial complexes, the Houston area, the Permian Basin, non-ERCOT areas, Central Texas, the Metroplex
It also recommends creating a Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Authority at an existing state agency to “to identify and study obstacles and opportunities and provide recommendations to future Legislatures to ensure Texas is the global leader in advance nuclear energy and technologies.”
Population growth in Texas continues to put immense strain on the state power grid, which has lead to historic blackouts during severe weather. Most notably, the major power crisis in February 2021 caused by the grid’s failure left over 4.5 million homes and businesses without power. Approximately 246 people died, most of them from hypothermia.
The Texas Longhorns 2024 football season is already coming to a close, as the program will take on Kentucky this weekend in what will be its last home game of the regular season before heading to College Station, aside from the potential of hosting a College Football Playoff matchup.
This inevitable milestone has caused the seniors who have spent their entire college careers as Longhorns to reflect on their time spent inside Darrell K. Royal Stadium, as they will be recognized individually on Saturday during the game.
“[I’m] looking forward to celebrating Senior Day,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said during Monday’s media availability. “A lot of these guys have done so much work for us and have been such catalysts for our culture and what we do.”
Senior EDGE Barryn Sorrell mentioned how his emotions surrounding the event have been rooted in the fact that he’s been at Texas since 2021 and how immediately found a home not just within the team itself, but also the fanbase.
“Any opportunity to play is definitely special, but just knowing that this is the last time that I’ll be playing in front of Longhorn Nation at home, just knowing that going into my freshman year, Longhorn Nation took me in with open arms, I just want to obviously leave a good taste in their mouth,” Sorrell said. “I really want to enjoy this experience with my teammates.”
Senior defensive back Jahdae Barron nearly faced his last season in 2023 after being undecided about whether he would return for a fifth year, but said the reality of it all is finally hitting him.
“It was sad last year, but this one really knowing that I actually can’t come back ever again, I’m gonna drop some real gangsta tears out there,” Barron said.
But Barron might be the only one shedding a tear on Saturday, as senior linebacker David Gbenda said he’s going to try his best to keep his feelings in control.
“That’s going to be a lot of emotions running through me. The last game, the last home game. But I gotta stay strong, [I] can’t cry,” Gbenda said.
While many veterans see this end of an era as upsetting, senior offensive lineman Jake Majors has used it to look back on how much enjoyment he’s gotten out of his five seasons with the Longhorns.
“It’s been a blast, I’ve had a lot of fun,” Majors said. “I’ve just had a blessed opportunity to be back here another year and just live out this dream of playing college football at the highest level and being a part of history.”
No matter where the Longhorns are headed in the postseason, Saturday will undoubtedly leave these seniors a chance to show how far they’ve come since they arrived alongside Sarkisian, and will be a rare moment where their toughness will be matched with vulnerability.
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