Fans, city prepare for wet SXSW weekend

AUSTIN, Texas - Long lines wrapped around venues Friday morning well before the wet weather rolled into Central Texas. Fans came ready for music and some even prepared for whatever Mother Nature sends.

"I have an umbrella and we're under a little bit of an awning," said Linda Johnson who waited to hear Blue October on West 6th.

"It's South by you have to come enjoy it rain or shine," said Stephanie Alvarez.

"I've seen people with umbrellas of all sizes," said music fan Teri Rodriguez.

Other fans like Mari Tamez are taking a chance. "We're winging it," she said. "Our plan two is to get an Uber to REI and by ponchos."

At Waterloo Records the show goes on rain or shine but if lightning or high winds strike, well that's a different story and John Kunz has a back-up plan.

"Depending on the weather we have the ability to scale it down if the band does and move it inside and that's our fallback position," said Kunz.

Decisions about events at private venues will be left up to organizers. The city can pull the plug on shows held on city property like the one along Auditorium Shores if conditions go downhill.

"The number one thing is people's safety," said Shelley Parks with Austin's Parks Department.

Parks says several city departments are working together to monitor weather conditions.

"We try not to do any speculation. We never know what's going to happen until it happens," said Parks. The city is keeping a close eye on Auditorium Shores following recent renovations.

"It's nice to have perfect weather but you don't always get that but you can get perfect music," said Kunz.

"It could rain one minute and be gone the next," said Alvarez who lives in Austin.

"As soon as we know we will let people know," explained Parks. The city and festival organizers plan to use social media to let people know if anything changes.