Austin City Limits Music Festival returned to Zilker Park in the capital of Texas for two weekends this month—October 3 to 5 and 10 to 12—and, like others on the music festival circuit, it was bigger than ever. The sold-out gathering drew some 75,000 attendees daily, all looking to watch and hear artists both old and new, including Outkast, Pearl Jam, Eminem, the Replacements, and Lorde. For the first time, ACL went cashless, allowing concertgoers to link their R.F.I.D. wristbands to their credit cards, which made it easier and faster for them to pay for food, drinks, and merchandise.
Here’s a look at this year's festival and how sponsors like Samsung catered to the massive crowds.
Attendees formed long lines to pose in an oversize photo frame that was placed on top of a slight hill, offering a scenic background of one of the main stages as well as the Austin skyline.
Ten winners of the festival’s golden bracelet were given special access to the festival’s Golden Porta Potty. The winners were also given 10 tickets each to hand out at their discretion. The gold-painted single Porta-Potty was air-conditioned and included Wi-Fi, an array of high-end toiletries like perfume, and a screen streaming performances from the festival stages so visitors wouldn’t miss a second of music.
Austin Kiddie Limits, the section for children 10 years and younger, was home to numerous activities for children. This included a dedicated stage for kid-friendly bands, hip-hop workshops, karaoke, interactive drumming, and more. A large art mural was available for kids to paint.
In an effort to be more sustainable, the organizers of the music festival branded cans of water, which were available throughout the grounds.
As part of its marketing partnership with the festival, Toms gift cards were attached to every program that was handed out.
Window displays were set up outside of the tents to show off the apparel, allowing shoppers to decide what to purchase before going into the two official stores for merchandise.
BucketFeet, the canvas shoe brand designed by artists, created two limited-edition shoes sold at Austin City Limits. The footwear designs were inspired by Texas: one featured an armadillo, and the other was decorated with images of bats, beers, and boots.
Art was the theme of the AT&T U-Verse Art Lounge. Outside the tent, there was a daily live mural painting demonstration by a different local artist. There was also a canvas of blank Samsung cell phone covers that were set up so that artist could create unique cases for attendees to win. Inside the lounge, visitors could charge their phones and watch live streams of the shows, as well as take a personality quiz to determine what printable swag they would receive: a license plate or specially designed socks.
In addition to streaming performances from the nearby Honda-sponsored stage and showcasing the 2015 Honda Fit EX-L car, the Honda Lounge had a dedicated selfie area set up in a yellow container, with angled mirrors for participants to easily take photos of themselves.
Both of the Samsung lounges at the festival, the Galaxy Experience Lounge and the V.I.P. Owner’s Lounge, had Southwestern themes and were decorated with patterned rugs, wooden flooring and paneling, and wildflowers. Samsung owners were able to gain access to the Owner’s Lounge by downloading the Milk Music app and completing each interactive station in the public lounge.
Attendees lined up to participate in the different sections of the Samsung Galaxy Experience Lounge out on the festival grounds. Each area was named after a musical genre from the Milk Music app, like the dance section, which offered flash tattoos.
The Owner’s Lounge offered a summer-camp vibe, where guests could sit on hammocks, at picnic tables, and even in a canoe. Throughout the weekends, celebrities and musical guests circulated through the space, including Matthew McConaughey, Jenny Lewis, and Big Boi. There were also DJ sets by acts like Foster the People.
Guests were able to switch out their dead phone batteries for new ones, which were stored in a wooden soda crate alongside succulents.
In keeping with the themes of the Milk Music program, the Vine Studio allowed participants to create their own personalized Vine videos with the direction of a stop-motion artist. Props were color-coded to the genre theme that each person picked. The idea was to “become the genre,” according to one of the artists working in the space.
Attendees could order Galaxy Floats, cocktails made with fruit popsicles and either champagne or beer and poured into a keepsake mug. Drink tickets were given to everyone with access to the Owner’s Lounge, and guests could win more by playing the Spin to Win game, where they could also win Samsung Galaxy devices and gift cards for local Austin vendors.
Free camp-inspired food was served throughout the day, including pulled pork sandwiches, mac ‘n’ cheese, and s’mores. The space also offered a create-your-own trail mix snack station.
Presented by Pizza Hut and Viacom Networks, the Discover Great Music Lounge took over American Legion Hall with all things bacon. The late-night event served as the launch for Pizza Hut's new bacon cheese stuffed-crust pizza, so guests were offered full-size samples of the new pie. Throughout the venue, oil cans were decorated to look like meat smokers.
The bars were made with butcher blocks as countertops and butcher knives as beer taps. The specialty cocktail of the evening was the Bakon Pepper Margarita, made with bacon-flavored vodka.
Guests were encourage to hit the giant pig piñata, which was adorned with a chef’s hat and filled with bacon candy.
As a way to add subtle branding, organizers decorated the interior of the venue with arrows, the logo of the Discover Great program. The signage also appeared on the fencing around the building.
The Amurica photo booth was housed in a small camper that could fit as many as 10 guests at a time. Inside, the walls were covered with knickknacks and lights.
