There’s no disputing it: The arts are big in Austin and Texas Hill Country. Really big. Texas big.
“Look at our hotel tax fund,” said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Austin. “We max out the portion that goes to arts and culture every year. That’s important. It’s important to fund the tourism organization, and we do that. It’s important to fund the convention center, and we do that. But in this community, it’s equally important to fund the arts. It’s a big part of our brand, but it’s also more than that. It’s our lifeline.”
Austin City Limits
Austin’s brand has been burgeoning, especially among meeting planners on the lookout for a destination as tech-savvy as it is distinctive.
The Austin Convention Center, gigabit-rated and frequently lauded as one of the most technologically advanced convention centers in the U.S., provides a wealth of resources for planners. The LEED Gold-certified facility includes 246,000 square feet of column-free exhibit halls that can be divided into five distinct spaces. The venue also has seven ballrooms and 54 meeting rooms.
Smaller events can be staged at partner facility Palmer Events Center, which provides 70,000 square feet of exhibit space readily partitioned into two separate halls. The Center additionally offers five meeting rooms and outdoor canopied event space.
Both facilities are actively working with the Austin Climate Protection Program to forward the city’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2020.
Hear the Music
Everybody knows Austin as a destination for live music. The music truly lives everywhere—in bars, restaurants, even office buildings and retail establishments. What people may not know is how easy it is to pair an event of any size with the music of their choice.
“This year we hosted PCMA,” Noonan said, “and we’re providing a music credit for anybody who attended PCMA and then books a meeting with us in the next year. Let’s say you’re using $5,000 in rent. We’re going to give you a $5,000 music incentive to hire local musicians.”
In this instance, the music credit was an aspect of Visit Austin’s 2017 PCMA incentive, but it isn’t an unusual offering. Austin lives its brand.
“We have a music industry marketing manager, Omar Lozano,” Noonan said. “He knows all the bands here in town. You need a blues band? Got it. Funk band? Right here. He can tell you who they are, who their agents are, what they charge and what their availability is. We do that as a resource for planners.”
Music-related off-site venues include Antone’s Nightclub, founded by Austin notable Clifford Antone, known for his independent recording label and mentoring of several musicians, including legendary guitar hero Stevie Ray Vaughan. The venue is available for private events.
Moody Theater, home to Austin City Limits, the longest-running music show in television history, is also open for group rental. And along with a full range of event spaces, Moody offers experiential tours that can be customized according to attendees’ interests.
Outside the music realm, Austin offers a variety of off-site options. LBJ Presidential Library has three distinct locations available for groups that want to engage with American history between sets. The ADA-accessible Bullock Texas State History Museum is capable of hosting groups up to 1,200.
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Among the city’s many hotel offerings, Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt features 11 dedicated meeting spaces. Also group-friendly are the JW Marriott Austin, Hilton Austin and Westin Austin Downtown.
In the works is the Austin Marriott Downtown, slated for a December 2019 debut. Plans call for 615 guest rooms and 65,000 square feet of meeting space.
Festival Fever
Live music and festivals are both abundant in Austin, including the renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) in March, Austin Food + Wine in April, and the Austin City Limits Music Festival in September.
Groups can also align a meeting with one of the city’s smaller festivals. For two weekends every November there is the East Austin Studio Tour, a free self-guided tour inviting the curious to meet local artists and artisans in their workspaces.
Sound on Sound takes place on the grounds of Sherwood Forest Faire in November. The most talked-about newcomer to the festival scene, the three-day event offers progressive music from all over the planet and next door.
Groups can also arrange to be in town for September’s Fantastic Fest, which features the full gamut of cult cinema.
Purveyors of the strange and otherworldly will also want to check out the Keep Austin Weird Fest & 5K in June, a decade-old tradition where anything goes, be it steampunk to the nines or an impromptu slam poetry performance with all the participants dressed as hot dogs.
Fredericksburg/Hill Country
Eighty miles west of Austin, Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie county and home to a wealth of German-American history. That history serves Fredericksburg well, according to Konnie Patke, meeting sales manager for the Fredericksburg CVB.
“Travelers are still attracted to history,” Patke said. “Authentic experiences like living-history are huge draws.”
Attendees craving a deeper understanding of German culture and history can explore the destination’s Main Street, which is “a step back in time,” according to Patke. “German heritage is alive in our wonderful, historic and walkable Main Street.”
The district brags more than 150 shops, more than a dozen art galleries, 10 tasting rooms and several restaurants. The emphasis on local flavor is the real deal; a town ordinance forbids chain restaurants and retailers in the historic district.
“Planners can offer their attendees a variety of authentic experiences,” Patke said.
Planners in search of cultural venues and group activities will find them in Texas Hill Country.
Housed in the six-acre site of the National Museum of the Pacific War, the Admiral Nimitz Museum is an ideal venue for meetings and other events. The venue’s Memorial Courtyard is ideal for outdoor receptions.
For some down-home old-time Texas atmosphere, the community of Luckenbach, Texas delivers. Thirteen miles outside of Fredericksburg, the Hill Country hamlet was one of the first settlements in Gillespie County and is a prime venue for country music. The Luckenbach Dance Hall provides full-service catering. Both the hall and the grounds can be booked for group shindigs.
The Pacific Showroom at the Hangar Hotel offers space for up to 250 as well as a tiki bar. The venue’s associated Airport Conference Center can seat more than 500 in its 8,000-plus square feet of meeting space.
The destination’s Oktoberfest is, of course, a highlight of the destination’s festival scene, but attendees can also explore other local offerings, such as the Food & Wine Fest, the Texas Mesquite Arts Festival, the Luckenbach Blues Festival, the Van der Stucken Music Festival and the Hill Country Film Festival.
