ACL 2026: Could we see some rain, mud during Weekend One?

AUSTIN, Texas - ACL is just days away and while the forecast is bringing cooler temperatures, it could also bring a lot of rain.

What they're saying:

The rain in the forecast is bringing back some memories for those who were at ACL in 2009 when Zilker Park became a muddy mess.

"I've not thought of that in many years, but it was a unique ACL," ACL 2009 festival goer Witt Duncan said.

Seventeen years ago, Duncan was at ACL, and he remembers when Zilker Park turned into a mud pit. He has video from that weekend.

"In this particular mud pit, kind of formed like a circle of spectators as, you could smell, you know there was, it was a bad smell in the air as the water kind of activated all the dillo dirt," Duncan said.

Dillo dirt is the name of the compost mix the city had spread across the lawn before the festival, made from yard trimmings and treated sewage sludge. Then came the rain and thousands of people walking back and forth across the newly resodded lawn turned it into a thick, sticky mess.

"…and then there was people sliding on their bellies through it so it was a fun time. I did not participate in that, but there was a lot of mud moving around," Duncan said.

It became one of those ACL memories people still talk about.

For Duncan, who is planning on going to ACL Weekend Two, he said it is all part of the experience.

"I think festivals, the way they bring people together, and particularly when there's unique circumstances, whether it's one year it was super dusty, quite the opposite, but you know, I still remember the color of the paper towel when I blew my nose afterwards, and the way that the dust storms and all that kind of made it more of a atmospheric experience there, and of course the muddy year was an emblematic ACL," Duncan said.

What's next:

Now, 17 years later, there is a question ahead of this weekend’s festival: could we see some mud again at ACL?

"Through Wednesday, we still are expecting highs in the mid to upper 90’s and some pretty high heat index values on Wednesday particularly," National Weather Service-Austin San Antonio lead meteorologist Emily Heller said.

But then, the first fall front of the season arrives.

"We are getting a front that's bringing the potential for heavy rains and flooding on Thursday, but it will also bring cooler temperatures, but in the 80's," Heller said.

The heaviest rain is predicted on Thursday into Friday, but rain chances could stick around through ACL weekend 1.

"We are expecting some very high rainfall rates, and it all depends on the slow motion of that front. If it stalls out, we could get multiple rounds of torrential downpours, and that could eventually lead to some flash flooding," FOX 7 meteorologist Zack Shields said.

That could mean some mud at Zilker Park.

Muddy or not, the ACL website states to dress for the occasion. Umbrellas are prohibited.

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