ACL Music Festival: Thousands of attendees rack in sales for Austin businesses

AUSTIN, Texas - For festival goers, the Austin City Limits Festival is all about the music, but for the local businesses, the weekend is about tuning in to more sales.

"Incredibly busy," said Devon Lampman, with Barton Springs Bike Rental. "Friday is always the busiest day. That's when most people are coming to pick up their bikes for the weekend, and also we've had every tour booked today." 

Barton Springs Bike Rental has had its shop near the festival for 15 years.

"I feel like it's grown every year," said Lampan. "We've kept getting more bikes every year to keep up with it, and so I feel like it's definitely grown, and we've tried to keep up and grow with it." 

Across the street, Baby A's is serving up Tex-Mex as quickly as it can.

"It's been great because we're expecting a lot of people," said Gigi Perez, with Baby A’s. "It's been like a slow season but now with this ACL, you can see a lot of people walking around, and the sales are getting better." 

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS COVERAGE

• Austin City Limits festival goers to be provided with Naloxone thanks to nonprofit
• Austin City Limits: Austin departments provide safety tips for festival goers
• Austin airport prepares for record-breaking number of travelers in October
• Austin City Limits: What to know before purchasing tickets
• 2023 Austin City Limits Music Festival: Know before you go

Perez said business has been slow for the last two months.

ACL is the time to make up for it.

"It was really hard," said Perez. "Maybe because it was too hot, or I don't know if it was the heat or something like that, but, yeah, it was too hard for all the restaurants on Barton springs, but now it's exciting." 

With almost half a million people expected in Austin over the next two weekends, the influx is good news for these business owners.

"To the people of Austin, please come," said Perez. "You are more than welcome."

An influx of people will also mean lots of traffic.

There are multiple road closures happening for the festival.

Parts of Barton Springs Road and Stratford Drive around Zilker Park are shut down.

Lanes are also narrowed for Pedicabs and scooters.

For a full list of closures, click here.