Austin SVG is Texas’ main city with a population of one million and the second largest state capital in the country. It is home to the state’s premier university, the state’s political, technological and musical heart. It’s also known as the “world capital of live music,” and has bumper stickers with the slogan “keep Austin strange. Finally, there are so many high-tech companies here that the city is sometimes called the Silicon Hills.
Austin SVG attractions
Austin SVG is very big. In order to be able to find your way around the interesting places in the city, you need to understand in advance which area you’re going to. First of all, you can start with the university part of the city, where tourists will be quite enough entertainment for the whole day.
The University of Texas and Drag occupy a separate area, and it is no surprise that the university is one of the five largest in the country in terms of campus size. A large section of Gudalupe Street runs along the western border of the campus and is called “drag” among the local “drag”. There are plenty of excellent shopping and gastronomic adventure spots.
And there are plenty of other adventure spots on campus. It is the Blanton Art Museum with a large permanent collection of European art with Rubens masterpieces, as well as American and Latin American exhibits. This is the Harry Ransome Center, which has a collection of restored cultural artifacts, including rare editions, manuscripts, photos, films and art objects. This is the Neil Cochrane House, built in 1855 in the style of the Greek Renaissance, one of the most important architectural landmarks of the city. It is the Presidential Library and Lyndon Johnson Museum, as well as the Texas Memorial Museum in the exhibition hall of the Texas Natural History Center, where there is, among other things, a paleontological laboratory. Finally, it is the University Tower, which was built in 1937 and has become one of the city’s symbols.
On the campus of the University of Texas, there are many street art objects, among which there are real legends. These include, for example, a portrait of Bob Dylan by El Federico; the huge film “The History of Cinema”; the psychedelic landscape of the Renaissance market; and, of course, the famous alien frog “Hello, how are you doing” by the local cult character Daniel Johnston.
Downtown also has plenty of interesting places to visit. First of all, it is the Austin Art Museum, where you can get acquainted with the art of the 20th century and even more modern. History lovers may like Bob Bullock’s Museum of Texas, which is very nice and with its rich and horrific expositions. For more than 30 years, the Women and Their Work Gallery has been opening new exhibitions of contemporary women artists living and working in Texas and beyond.
And the most unconventional museum in the city is the HOPE open-air gallery at the corner of Baylor and 11. In fact, the gallery is simply concrete walls without ceilings, left over from an attempt to build a condominium here. The walls are graffiti-painted along and across, and something new is constantly appearing here.
Austin East is home to the French Government Museum. The building was built in 1841, after the French King Louis Philippe officially recognized the Republic of Texas as independent and ordered the establishment of a self-governing body. The historic building with its kitchen and garage is open to the public and is used for group tours (according to the schedule). And in the beautiful garden area around the building, the French Austin Alliance organizes seasonal Sunday’s petanque competitions.
Another specific attraction of East Austin is the Moonlight Towers. According to legend, these 5 steel 50-meter high towers were built in 1894 to light up the area that was terrorized by a serial killer at night.
At the end of the 19th century Austin SVG also received the romantic name of the city “Purple Crown”. So far, opinions about where the name came from differ. The most common connection is the atmospheric effect that can be observed on the hills during the winter sunset.
Austin South is basically everything south of Lady Bird Lake. The main street here is Riverside, which runs parallel to the Colorado River. Moving east at the end of the day, you’ll see the Austin version of Mexican nightlife: the East Riverside is the main rival to the famous downtown Sixth Street party. And during the day, there are plenty of Mexican and Chinese eateries with inexpensive and delicious food. One block north of Riverside is the Mexican flea market (open on weekends).
The famous writer O. Henry lived in Austin for less than two years, from 1893 to 1895. One way or another, in the pretty cottage, built in 1886, which the future writer filmed with his wife and daughter, since 1934 opened a museum. There are many historical items, some furniture of the Porter family and personal belongings. Every year, the museum house hosts a town pun punching competition.
Austin SVG events
The biggest Austin City Limits music festival is held annually in Zilker Park and consists of 2 three-day weekends. The festival was first held in 2002 and today it brings together groups of different genres, including rock, country, folk, electronics and hip-hop, on 8 stages, and the number of guests of the festival reaches about 75 thousand people every day.
The Lady Bird Lake Boat Race has been held in April since 1999. Another downtown event is the Old Pecan Street Street Street Street Festival, which is held in May and September on what used to be known as the East Sixth Street. There are about 250 shops opening here, and live music is played on several stages.
In the North Central area, the Frontera Theatre Festival takes place in January-February. Around the same time, Chinatown in the area celebrates the Chinese New Year in Texas. It is a two-day celebration with free entrance, dragons and dances, martial arts performances and so on. The chocolate festival takes place in the district in March and features not only chocolate bakeries, but also bakeries, pastry shops, hotels, and all sorts of other places that offer samples of their chocolate art.