ACL Fest's second weekend ends Oct. 11. Zilker Park doesn't reopen all at once that night. Lanes, a street, parking lots and a garden come back over the following week. The ordinary season that follows lasts until the Holiday Tree goes up on Nov. 29. Over the same weeks, South Lamar has been adding places to go when you're not at the park, and several of them sit in one building, The Code at 2323 S. Lamar Blvd.
The park calendar decides when Zilker feels like a neighborhood park again. The openings on South Lamar decide where you end up when it doesn't.
The Week the Park Comes Back
Both ACL weekends follow the same closure pattern. Barton Springs Road is closed from 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Monday, and Stratford Drive from 9 a.m. Thursday through Monday, according to the city's mobility guidance as reported by Community Impact. There's no festival parking at the park, and parking in the surrounding neighborhoods is prohibited.
Once the music stops, things come back in this order:
- Oct. 12 to 16, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Barton Springs Road has lane reductions while crews take down the festival.
- Oct. 14 to 16, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Stratford Drive closes during the day.
- Oct. 16: Zilker Botanical Garden reopens after its Oct. 1 to 16 closure for abatement, renovation and maintenance. The city notes the garden's main building may stay closed longer.
- Through Oct. 18: The Great Lawn stays closed, along with the Stratford, Pecan Grove, Polo Picnic, Disc Golf, Moonlight Tower, Rock Garden and Playscape parking lots.
The first weekend with the lawn and those lots back is Oct. 24 and 25. The city hasn't announced a separate date for when turf restoration is finished. The Oct. 18 reopening is the only date on the closure notice.
Some things stay open for the entire festival season. The city says Barton Springs Pool, the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, the Barton Creek Greenbelt, the disc golf course and the Zilker Playscape will remain open throughout September and October 2026. The pool does have one change. On festival weekends, swimmers can only enter from Azie Morton Road.
One regular is missing from the reopening list. The Zilker Eagle has been on fall break since Sept. 28. The train's website asks visitors to wait for reopening news and hasn't posted a date yet.
Barton Springs Pool Stays Open, but the East Side Will Look Different
Barton Springs Pool keeps its standing schedule of 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The exception is Thursday, when it closes from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for cleaning. Behind the water, Austin Parks and Recreation began a repair project on Sept. 8 for the historic stone retaining wall along the pool's eastern edge.
The wall dates to 1917 and is a contributing structure to Zilker Park's listing as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The city says five sections are showing signs of structural failure, and that deterioration from plant and tree growth behind the wall has been documented since 2015.
The project runs in phases:
- September 2026: The city's forestry crew removes 37 trees, most averaging about seven inches in diameter: 26 hackberry, five American elm, three mulberry, two pecan and one ligustrum.
- Fall and winter 2026: A structural engineer who specializes in historic preservation assesses the wall and designs the repair.
- Early 2027 onward: Masonry crews rebuild and stabilize the damaged sections behind safety fencing. The city says this won't affect pool operations.
The trees won't be replanted in that immediate area, because the city wants to protect the repaired wall from the same root pressure. Regular swimmers will see a more open east bank from here on. The city also cautions that all of these dates depend on the engineering findings and the weather.
The Code Is Becoming South Lamar's Anchor
Most of the new activity on the South Lamar corridor is concentrated at 2323 S. Lamar Blvd., where The Code hotel has been signing up ground-floor tenants.
Cuvée Coffee opened there Aug. 3. The Austin roaster has been in business since 1998, and this location runs all day: espresso and nitro cold brew in the morning, then wine, local beer and cocktails in the evening. The bar menu includes espresso martinis, frozen cocktails and the Paperwork, Cuvée's take on the Paper Plane. On the coffee side, there's a Maple Spiced Pecan cold brew and the Texas Teddy. The Code's garage entrance is off Bluebonnet Lane.
Three more tenants have been announced for the building:
- Manhattan Cowgirl, coming in fall 2026. This is the flagship store of Kyleigh Nethery's boutique fashion brand. It will include a hat bar where guests can customize their own cowboy hat, choosing the silhouette, colors and materials.
- Pure Sweat + Float Studio, coming in winter 2026. Rachel Flowers owns the brand's first Austin franchise, which will offer infrared saunas, cold plunges and float therapy.
- ISI Elite Training, also coming in winter 2026. The brand has more than 50 locations nationwide and teaches 50-minute strength, conditioning and athletic-performance classes.
As of the Sept. 24 Community Impact roundup, Manhattan Cowgirl was still listed as coming soon. When all three are open, one building will offer coffee, cocktails, retail, recovery and training, all a short trip from the park.
The Rest of the Corridor, Address by Address
The other recent openings are spread along South Lamar, from the 1100 block down to the 3000 block.
| Business | Address | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendocino Farms | 1100 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. 1125 | Sandwiches, salads, wraps, soups | Opened Sept. 22 |
| Cuvée Coffee | 2323 S. Lamar Blvd. | All-day coffee and cocktail bar | Opened Aug. 3 |
| Alloy Autohaus with Second Wind Coffee | 2706 S. Lamar Blvd. | Vintage car showroom with a coffee bar | Soft opened Sept. 5, grand opening Sept. 19 |
| Frost Bank | 3001 S. Lamar Blvd., Bldg. G, Ste. 100 | Bank branch | Opened Sept. 28 |
| CorePower Yoga | 3001 S. Lamar Blvd. | Yoga studio | Projected for this fall |
| Tumble 22 | 2929 S. Lamar Blvd. | Hot chicken | Planned for 2027 |
Mendocino Farms is the brand's third restaurant in Austin. Frost Bank is the bank's 29th Austin-area branch. It took half of the former Half Price Books building at 3001 S. Lamar, and CorePower Yoga is expected to fill the other half.
Closer to the park, Casa Fina is a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar announced for 408 Josephine St. in the Zilker neighborhood. It was set to open in September 2026, and the Sept. 24 roundup still listed it as coming soon. Bartlett's, the steakhouse that has been operating since 1986, is planning a second location at 301 W. Riverside Drive. A state filing estimates construction will start in early 2027.
There are also two changes just east of the corridor. Perla's at 1400 S. Congress Ave. temporarily closed after a kitchen fire on Sept. 6 and hasn't announced a reopening date. Little Nishi closed its trailer at 2118 S. Congress Ave. on Oct. 1 to prepare for a brick-and-mortar restaurant in South Austin.
Nov. 29 Starts the Holiday Season at Zilker
The ordinary stretch runs from the Oct. 19 lawn reopening to the evening of Nov. 29. On that date, the 2026 Zilker Holiday Tree lighting begins with music at 5:15 p.m., and the tree is lit at 6 p.m. The tree is open for viewing nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1.
The Trail of Lights follows. The 62nd annual Trail runs Dec. 10 to 23 at Zilker Park, with more than 2 million lights, 96 illuminated trees and over 70 displays and lighted tunnels. Before it opens, there's a Preview Party on Dec. 4 with live music, food and rides, and an untimed two-mile Fun Run on Dec. 5.
On half the nights, general admission at 7 p.m. is free:
- Free: Dec. 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17
- $8 per person: Dec. 12 and Dec. 18 through 23
- Children under 12: free every night
"H-E-B is honored to power this cherished tradition alongside the Trail of Lights Foundation, helping keep seven nights free for the community." Heidi Post, Senior Director of Public Affairs, H-E-B
Premium options are available for anyone who wants a shorter line. ZIP passes start at $20 and include early entry, lounge access, cookies and cocoa. Platinum passes start at $95 and add valet parking and a dedicated entrance.
Most of the free nights fall on weeknights, from Sunday, Dec. 13 through Thursday, Dec. 17. The paid nights are Saturday, Dec. 12 and the final run into Christmas week. Any coffee at Cuvée before a free Wednesday walk-through, or a South Lamar dinner after the tree lighting, is on the corridor's newest tenants.
The calendar between ACL and New Year's changes every year, and that schedule shapes how a home near Zilker works day to day. If you're thinking about what it means for your own South Austin address, The Mike Seder Group can walk you through it. Schedule Your Concierge Consultation.
