Weekend One of ACL 2022 wraps up, drawing long-time fans, first timers alike

ACL 2022 Weekend One wraps up

Weekend One drew in about 75,000 people each day, including fans who had been attending for years alongside first-time festival-goers.

AUSTIN, Texas - The first weekend of the 2022 Austin City Limits Music Festival wrapped up Sunday with the event drawing about 75,000 people each day to Zilker Park.

Nick Allison says he's been to the festival 15 times, only missing the first time his family went.

"My wife came out with my parents and my sister, and we had just gotten married a couple months before that, and then I got deployed," he said. "I missed that first year, but pretty much every year since then we've been, except for '07 when our son was born."

Now, it's a family tradition. "We got both of our kids, it's just become the thing we do every year with them," he said.

Brigid McEvoy has also been coming every year, since the third year of the festival. "Being outside, walking around, being with friends, and hearing great music," she said. "I remember thinking, 'oh, I'm coming every year."

This year, she brought her friends Barbara Waldare and Melissa Acton, both first timers at ACL. "P!nk was phenomenal, like you can't top that... we'll see the Chili Peppers tonight," Waldare said.

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Austin has a special place in their friendship.

"I was a tourist crossing the bridge four years ago, and I asked [Barbara], 'can I ask you a question,' and we started walking together and before the end of the bridge, we were already planning to hit a happy hour together," Acton said.

"Austin brings people together," Waldare said.

"People in Austin have spirit, and I just love it. I will totally be back," Acton said.

Weekend Two kicks off on Oct. 14. The Chicks, P!nk, and Red Hot Chili Peppers will be back next week.

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