Austin City Limits Festival Returns for it’s 20th year to Zilker Park following a 2020 hiatus with the Coronavirus precautions last year. While the golden anniversary celebration was postponed, the 2021 lineup shines with a lot of talent risen out of this time of social connection paired with some classic feel good favorites.
Health and safety protocols are at top priority for festivalgoers to ensure the most positive music sharing experience. Printed proof of the vaccine or 72-hr negative COVID-19 test results are required to enter the 3-day festival along with adhering to a fan health pledge of no prior symptoms, contact, or international travel to quarantine areas. A mandatory mask policy was also added to festival requirements per a recent city order. All is a small price to pay so fellow music lovers remain safe and the show goes on!
The lingering concerns, however, have not left this year’s festival immune to last minute changes. Headliner Stevie Nicks announced an August departure to the lineup due to virus concerns with 80’s new wavers Duran Duran stepping in as the Sunday night show-closer. DaBaby’s Sunday set was also another cancelled, though this due to disparaging remarks made at an earlier Miami show which led Tyler the Creator to step into that slot, and country crooning queen Tanya Tucker had to cancel the remainder of her shows for 2021, which included her weekend one appearance, due to an ongoing medical issue.
Despite these changes in some of the headlining slots, the strong, musically diverse bill the festival is known to bring is still in play heavy with a country/pop fusion theme – the King of Country, George Strait, will be performing head to head with Miley Cyrus Friday night and Billie Eilish returns to ACL to close out Saturday night after drawing a huge crowd and following at her 2019 festival appearance. Jon Pardi, Charlie Crockett, and Leann Rimes tip their hats to the crossover country presence this year, a good follow-up to last year’s reminder of getting back to the simpler ways of life. Pop-rock phenomenon Greta Van Fleet is also set to take the ACL stage once again as well representing the rock genre with their signature throwback flair.
The ladies continue to come in strong, especially following widespread Tik Tok trend popularity with artists like Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat leading the bill alongside Erikah Badu, St. Vincent, Alison Wonderland, and upcomers Phoebe Bridgers and Jade Bird. The last festival showed the intensity of the younger female demographic showing up with Eilish’s ACL debut and Lizzo’s unprecedented audience and this year’s lineup plays into that same growing strength in the industry.
ACL is no stranger to inclusion and involving acts like Trixie Mattel and Best of Austin Drag this year alongside Bonus Tracks by renowned speaker and author Brené Brown highlighting the power of connection through music and culture in her live festival taping of an episode of her podcast, “Unlocking Us” with Brett Goldstein, solidifies a lot of what the world has come to embrace of each other as we’ve continued to come together in understanding even more, especially through the arts as a platform for communication and change.
The connection seen this past year via the internet has highlighted the international representation in music as musical acts like Mongolian metal band The Hu, Austin’s Afro-Columbian soul funk group Superfonicos, Irish singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy, and musician/DJ/producer Madeon adding some global flare to the weekend.
A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll and all between, ACL 2021 comes together in a two-weekend shared experience of what we’ve been reminded of more this past year than ever – music brings us together and that shared experience truly is something special, moreso when we have had a taste of it’s absence, and provides an outlet to share a common experience and love for that which transcends all boundaries.
