Best Fall Events in Austin in 2026
August 18, 2026
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Austin in fall works differently than the rest of the year. The heat breaks sometime in October, football is on every Saturday, and the festivals come in waves from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. There’s something to do in Austin practically every weekend on the calendar this fall.
Here are our picks for the best fall events in Austin between September and November 2026.
September Events in Austin
Austin Restaurant Weeks
8/28–9/13
A two-week dining event where top Austin restaurants offer prix fixe menus at reduced prices, with a portion of each meal going to the Central Texas Food Bank. This is a great opportunity to try local restaurants that you’ve been wanting to visit. Casa Bianca, Barley Swine, Sawyer & Co., and Dai Due have all participated in past years.
Lone Star Le Mans
9/4–9/6
The only North American round of the FIA World Endurance Championship comes to Circuit of the Americas for three days. The Sunday race is the main event, but Friday and Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions offer a more relaxed way to see the cars and walk the paddock.
Bat Fest
9/5
More than a million Mexican free-tailed bats take up residence beneath Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge every summer. Bat Fest is their annual send-off before the colony migrates south. The festival features local food stands, live music, family activities, and the bat flight itself at dusk. Bat Fest is as Austin as it gets.
UT Football
September–November
The Longhorns play seven home games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium this fall, including matchups against Ohio State on September 12, Florida on October 17, Ole Miss on October 24, and Arkansas on November 21. Gameday energy in East Austin is its own kind of event, and the Heywood is about ten minutes from the stadium.
Pecan Street Festival
9/12–9/13
Austin’s longest-running arts and crafts festival returns for its fall edition at Hill Country Galleria. Pecan Street Festival features local artists, craftmakers, food vendors, and live music across a free, full weekend.
Fantastic Fest
9/17–9/24
Fantastic Fest is eight days of horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and action film premieres at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, organized by the team behind one of the best genre film programs in the country. Past guests have included Bill Murray, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Darren Aronofsky.
Austin Museum Day
9/20
Austin Museum Day celebrates art, culture, and history by offering free admission to more than 30 Austin area museums for one day. Participating museums include the Blanton Museum of Art, The Contemporary Austin, the LBJ Presidential Library, Mexic-Arte Museum, and UMLAUF Sculpture Garden. The festivities include special programming, exhibition tours, activities, and more.
Looking for more? Read our full monthly event roundup: September Events in Austin.
October Events in Austin
Austin City Limits Festival
10/2–10/4 and 10/9–10/11
Austin’s favorite music festival turns 25 this year, and there’s plenty to celebrate. The festival brings six days of entertainment, food, and hundreds of performances across nine stages at Zilker Park.
This year’s lineup includes Charli XCX, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, Lorde, and The xx headlining the bill, with Skrillex anchoring Weekend One and Kings of Leon closing Weekend Two. Weekend One three-day passes are already sold out, but single-day tickets and Weekend Two passes remain available.
Texas Conference for Women
10/5
One of the largest professional development events for women in the country, this year’s event will take place at Moody Center. The 2026 Texas Conference for Women includes keynotes from Kristen Bell, Hoda Kotb, Ilona Maher, Tunde Oyeneyin, and Codie Sanchez, along with breakout sessions, Q&As, and 1:1 coaching opportunities.
Austin Oktoberfest
10/10
Hosted by the German-Texan Heritage Society, this is one of the longest-running traditional Oktoberfest celebrations in Texas. The event includes live music, food, and pumpkin painting, all hosted by an organization that has been doing this since before most Austin Oktoberfest pop-ups existed.
Hot Luck Festival
10/16–10/17
Created by Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue alongside James Moody and Mike Thelin, Hot Luck is a live fire food and music festival with a lineup that reflects the people running it. The 2026 chef roster includes Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria, Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia, Evan LeRoy of LeRoy & Lewis, Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel of Birdie’s, and Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Canje, among others. Events take place across multiple venues throughout the weekend, and the Whole Enchilada Pass gets you into all of them.
Austin Mediterranean Festival
10/16–10/18
What started as a small church bake sale in 1934 has grown into a full weekend celebration of Mediterranean culture. The festival takes place at St. Elias Church, 1.5 miles from the Heywood Hotel, and includes live performances, food, and cultural programming representing Greece, Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine, Eritrea, and more.
Austin Coffee Festival
10/17–10/18
Austin Coffee Festival is two days of specialty coffee tastings, demonstrations, and samplings from top Austin roasters and coffee shops. Held at Palmer Events Center, the festival is a focused, enjoyable event for anyone who takes their coffee with some seriousness. Tickets start at $25.
Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
10/22–10/25
F1 returns to Circuit of the Americas for four days this year, with a new Thursday Grand PrixView event on October 22. Tickets for the Thursday event start at $20 and include on-track action from F1 Academy plus early access to COTALAND. F1’s main racing runs Friday through Sunday, with concert headliners Maroon 5 performing on Friday, Post Malone on Saturday, and Alesso closing out the weekend on Sunday. Check out our full F1 guide here and our favorite F1 restaurants before you plan your visit.
Staying in Austin for F1 or ACL?The Heywood Hotel is on East Cesar Chavez, ten minutes from COTA and close to all the action. We offer free parking, personalized service, and a team that knows this city. |
AIA Austin Homes Tour
10/24–10/25
Organized by AIA Austin, this weekend event offers a self-guided tour of well-designed, private homes crafted by local architecture studios. The homes are spread across different Austin neighborhoods and reflect a range of design styles that any interiors, design, or architecture enthusiast will appreciate. Tickets are typically around $50.
Viva la Vida
10/24
Mexic-Arte Museum’s 43rd Annual Viva la Vida Festival and Parade is Austin’s largest and longest-running Día de los Muertos celebration. The Grand Procession kicks off at noon at 4th and Congress, followed by a street festival running until 6 p.m. with local artists, food, a low-rider exhibition, and live performances.
Austober Fest
10/25
Hosted by Austin Saengerrunde at Scholz Garten, Austober Fest is a neighborhood-scale Oktoberfest with live music, a stein holding contest, a sausage competition, and even bowling. Tickets for Austober Fest are $40.
Austin Film Festival
10/29–11/5
Writers, filmmakers, and festival-goers fill downtown Austin for eight days of film screenings, Q&As, and the world’s largest screenwriters conference. More than 30 feature films, 80 short films, and programming across multiple theaters throughout downtown that goes well beyond the standard festival model.
Looking for more? Read our full monthly event roundup: October Events in Austin.
November Events in Austin
Quesoff
Date TBD
Mohawk’s annual queso competition is one of those unique-to-Austin events. Restaurants, chefs, and home cooks compete across four queso categories: Meaty, Spicy, Veggie, and Wild Card. The 2026 date has not been confirmed yet, but we suggest following Mohawk on Instagram for the announcement.
Texas Monthly BBQ Fest
11/7–11/8, Lockhart
Texas Monthly heads to Lockhart, 35 miles south of Austin, for two days in the Barbecue Capital of Texas. Saturday’s BBQ World’s Fair is a free public event with an RSVP, where you pay per tray of food. Sunday’s Top 50 Picnic is ticketed and includes tastings from more than 30 restaurants on Texas Monthly’s most recent Top 50 list. Both days feature live music and an artisan market.
Austin Food and Wine Festival
Date TBD
Held at Auditorium Shores with Lady Bird Lake in the background, the Austin Food and Wine Festival brings together Texas pitmasters, local favorites, and visiting chefs for two days of tastings, chef demos, and live-fire cooking.
Texas Book Festival
11/14–11/15
Now in its 31st year, the Texas Book Festival is the largest book event in Texas. Each fall, the festival takes over downtown Austin for a free weekend of author panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations, and a Saturday night Lit Crawl through East Austin. The full 2026 author lineup will be announced September 16.
Texas Craft Brewers Festival
11/14
More than 80 Texas craft breweries and over 200 craft beers take over Fiesta Gardens, less than a mile from the Heywood. Texas Craft Brewers Festival is the largest celebration of independent Texas craft brewing in the state, with food vendors and live music. 21+ only.
UT vs. Texas A&M
11/27 (Friday), at Kyle Field
The Lone Star Showdown is a road game this year, played at Kyle Field in College Station on the Friday after Thanksgiving, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC. For anyone making the drive from Austin, College Station is about two hours east.
Looking for more? Read our full monthly event roundup: November Events in Austin.
Spend Your Fall Weekend at the Heywood Hotel
Fall in Austin stays busy right up until the holiday season takes over. The Heywood Hotel sits on East Cesar Chavez in the middle of all of it, ten minutes from COTA and DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium and close to downtown, with free parking, a MICHELIN Key designation for two consecutive years, and a team that knows this city as well as anyone we’ve met. Book your stay at the Heywood Hotel and we’ll help you plan the rest.
Book Your Fall Stay at the Heywood HotelMICHELIN Key-designated for two consecutive years and ten minutes from COTA, DKR, and Zilker Park. Free parking, concierge recommendations, and a team that knows Austin’s fall calendar as well as anyone in the city. |