Austin Aqua Festival
Encyclopedia
The Austin Aqua Festival (usually called Aqua Fest) was a ten day festival
held the first week of August on the shores of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin, Texas
from 1962 until 1998. In 2002, the Austin City Limits Music Festival
was formed, which may be the spiritual successor of Aqua Fest.
as a top vacation area and to boost the local economy in what was normally a slow period. The first Aqua Fest occurred Aug. 3-12, 1962. Art Linkletter
was the headliner for the event.
The festival offered many water related events such as a 150 mile canoe
race
, fishing
contests, a sailing
regatta
and an illuminated night time parade
on the lake
. There were many land based events also including the Miss Austin Aqua Beauty contest, a twilight land parade, a daytime military
parade, a rodeo
, golf
tournament
, concert
s, dance
s and fireworks
.
Patrons of the fest could purchase a book of discount tickets to get into the various venues. The tickets were called Skipper Script. The next year, the script gave way to the Skipper Pin, which was purchased and pinned on the goers clothing, letting the workers know that the wearer was eligible for discounts on tickets.
The central location for many of the events was "Festival Beach," a small park on Town Lake between the city-owned power plant
and a residential neighborhood. The city had originally created Town Lake as a cooling pond
for the power plant.
In 1964, the festival added one of its most popular and controversial events, drag boat racing on Town Lake. It also added a water skiing
championship, kite flying championship and an Austin Grand Prix
- sports car
racing on city streets.
The 1966 Aqua Fest started out with the world premiere
of Batman
, with Adam West
and other actor
s from the movie in attendance. 1966 also saw the start of the "Battle of the Bands", in which unknown rock and roll
bands were judged for awards and recognition. Battle of the Bands would become the festival's top draw. The United States Air Force
air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds first performed at the Fest the same year.
By 1968, an estimated crowd of 150,000 watched the night lighted water parade, which had been renamed to Rio Noche parade in 1964. The crowds were starting to overwhelm Festival Beach causing traffic congestion, parking problems and security concerns for the residents plus the noise of the events, especially the drag boats. However, the mostly Hispanic
community had very little political clout to get anything changed.
. This first year there was Western, German, Czech and Jazz
and Rhythm and Blues
nights. Throughout the years the theme nights varied as new ones were tried and unpopular ones not repeated. These included Mexican
, Black Heritage, Italian
, American
and International nights. Toward the end of the festival's life, the theme nights had settled to multiple nights with Western and Mexican themes.
, on the southeast edge of Austin, began an open house in conjunction with Aqua Fest and titled it Aero-Fest. In addition to the Thunderbirds performing, the gathering showed off many military airplanes
and other hardware. A crowd favorite was a C-5 Galaxy
, which visitors would walk through to get to the main display area. Aero-Fest was an instant success and in just two years it was drawing 80,000 people to the base. Aero-Fest ceased when the base closed in 1993.
contest and motocross
in 1971 and the Pet Parade in 1972. But the growth of the event brought confrontation with the neighborhoods surrounding Festival Beach. Complaints had gone unheeded and people finally took to the streets in protest. The anti-Fest coalition was led by Paul Hernandez and a group calling itself the "Brown Berets." Protesters were arrested and they in turn sued the City of Austin and Aqua Fest. By the end of the decade, the drag boat races were gone from Town Lake and pressure was on to find a new location to hold other Aqua Fest events.
, a larger park along Town Lake about a mile to the west of Festival Beach. This larger area meant the festival could now have multiple stages for entertainment. The festival organizers signed up corporate sponsors and local radio
stations to co-sponsor the entertainment and began booking national acts.
The City of Austin, which had subsidized Aqua Fest in its early years, now believed the Fest was self-sufficient and withdrew its financial support. The city began charging the festival for use of Auditorium Shores.
In 1985, attendance at Aqua Fest peaked at 252,000. More criticism came at the festival for lack of parking, excessive noise and alcohol
abuse issues. This time the rebuke was from residents of the Bouldin Creek neighborhood
just south of Auditorium Shores. The opponents of the festival were able to force a non-binding referendum
to move Aqua Fest to Lake Walter E. Long
in far east Austin. The measure passed but promised corporate support to build a new facility went away as Texas entered an oil
bust in the middle of the decade. Aqua Fest stayed at Auditorium Shores.
in 1992. This drove ticket prices up and attendance down. By 1993, the festival only drew 44,000 people and as a result lost $722,000 dollars. The festival exhausted it cash reserves and asked its largest creditor, the City of Austin, to be able to pay off its debt in annual installments.
In 1994, Aqua Fest returned to its roots with more local acts and an all volunteer staff and in 1995 brought back the popular theme nights. They also tried drag boat races again, this time at Lake Walter E. Long, but the races drew little interest. It was all too little, too late and the Austin Aqua Festival folded in 1998.
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
held the first week of August on the shores of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
from 1962 until 1998. In 2002, the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
was formed, which may be the spiritual successor of Aqua Fest.
1962-1969
The Austin Aqua Festival was created in 1962 to promote Austin and the Texas Highland LakesTexas Highland Lakes
The Texas Highland Lakes is a chain of seven reservoirs in Central Texas formed by several dams on the Colorado River. This portion of the river winds southeast from its headwaters near the border of Texas and New Mexico to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico...
as a top vacation area and to boost the local economy in what was normally a slow period. The first Aqua Fest occurred Aug. 3-12, 1962. Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
was the headliner for the event.
The festival offered many water related events such as a 150 mile canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
race
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
contests, a sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
and an illuminated night time parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
on the lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
. There were many land based events also including the Miss Austin Aqua Beauty contest, a twilight land parade, a daytime military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
parade, a rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
s and fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
.
Patrons of the fest could purchase a book of discount tickets to get into the various venues. The tickets were called Skipper Script. The next year, the script gave way to the Skipper Pin, which was purchased and pinned on the goers clothing, letting the workers know that the wearer was eligible for discounts on tickets.
The central location for many of the events was "Festival Beach," a small park on Town Lake between the city-owned power plant
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
and a residential neighborhood. The city had originally created Town Lake as a cooling pond
Cooling pond
A cooling pond is a man-made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of supplying cooling water to a nearby power plant or industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, pulp and paper mill, chemical plant, steel mill or smelter...
for the power plant.
In 1964, the festival added one of its most popular and controversial events, drag boat racing on Town Lake. It also added a water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
championship, kite flying championship and an Austin Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
- sports car
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
racing on city streets.
The 1966 Aqua Fest started out with the world premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
of Batman
Batman (1966 film)
Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character of the same name. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The film was...
, with Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
and other actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s from the movie in attendance. 1966 also saw the start of the "Battle of the Bands", in which unknown rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
bands were judged for awards and recognition. Battle of the Bands would become the festival's top draw. The United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds first performed at the Fest the same year.
By 1968, an estimated crowd of 150,000 watched the night lighted water parade, which had been renamed to Rio Noche parade in 1964. The crowds were starting to overwhelm Festival Beach causing traffic congestion, parking problems and security concerns for the residents plus the noise of the events, especially the drag boats. However, the mostly Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
community had very little political clout to get anything changed.
Theme Nights
Theme nights began in 1969. Various nights of the festival would highlight different cultures of TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. This first year there was Western, German, Czech and Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and Rhythm and Blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
nights. Throughout the years the theme nights varied as new ones were tried and unpopular ones not repeated. These included Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Black Heritage, Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and International nights. Toward the end of the festival's life, the theme nights had settled to multiple nights with Western and Mexican themes.
Aero-Fest
Also in 1969, Bergstrom Air Force BaseBergstrom Air Force Base
Bergstrom Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located seven miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas. It was activated during World War II as a troop carrier training airfield, and was a front-line Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War...
, on the southeast edge of Austin, began an open house in conjunction with Aqua Fest and titled it Aero-Fest. In addition to the Thunderbirds performing, the gathering showed off many military airplanes
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
and other hardware. A crowd favorite was a C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
, which visitors would walk through to get to the main display area. Aero-Fest was an instant success and in just two years it was drawing 80,000 people to the base. Aero-Fest ceased when the base closed in 1993.
1970-1979
The new decade saw Aqua Fest's continued growth with the addition of more new events such as a photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
contest and motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
in 1971 and the Pet Parade in 1972. But the growth of the event brought confrontation with the neighborhoods surrounding Festival Beach. Complaints had gone unheeded and people finally took to the streets in protest. The anti-Fest coalition was led by Paul Hernandez and a group calling itself the "Brown Berets." Protesters were arrested and they in turn sued the City of Austin and Aqua Fest. By the end of the decade, the drag boat races were gone from Town Lake and pressure was on to find a new location to hold other Aqua Fest events.
1980-1989
Due to continued protest and growing crowds, Aqua Fest was moved from Festival Beach to Auditorium ShoresAuditorium Shores
Auditorium Shores is a public park located on Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas....
, a larger park along Town Lake about a mile to the west of Festival Beach. This larger area meant the festival could now have multiple stages for entertainment. The festival organizers signed up corporate sponsors and local radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations to co-sponsor the entertainment and began booking national acts.
The City of Austin, which had subsidized Aqua Fest in its early years, now believed the Fest was self-sufficient and withdrew its financial support. The city began charging the festival for use of Auditorium Shores.
In 1985, attendance at Aqua Fest peaked at 252,000. More criticism came at the festival for lack of parking, excessive noise and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
abuse issues. This time the rebuke was from residents of the Bouldin Creek neighborhood
Bouldin Creek, Austin, Texas
Bouldin Creek is an older neighborhood in Austin, Texas, originally created at the turn of the 20th century. With several historic homes remaining from that era, and countless more from the period of rapid growth in the 1920s and 30s that followed, this neighborhood has an undeniable historic charm...
just south of Auditorium Shores. The opponents of the festival were able to force a non-binding referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to move Aqua Fest to Lake Walter E. Long
Lake Walter E. Long
Lake Walter E. Long is a power plant cooling reservoir on Decker Creek in Austin, Texas, USA. The reservoir was officially impounded in 1967 and serves to provide water for turbines used in the production of electricity from petroleum-based fuels. The dam and the lake are managed by the City of...
in far east Austin. The measure passed but promised corporate support to build a new facility went away as Texas entered an oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
bust in the middle of the decade. Aqua Fest stayed at Auditorium Shores.
1990-1998
With its multiple stages for entertainment, Aqua Fest changed from a civic event to a live music event. The organizers began to book bigger and bigger acts, even paying premiums to get popular acts such as Dolly PartonDolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
in 1992. This drove ticket prices up and attendance down. By 1993, the festival only drew 44,000 people and as a result lost $722,000 dollars. The festival exhausted it cash reserves and asked its largest creditor, the City of Austin, to be able to pay off its debt in annual installments.
In 1994, Aqua Fest returned to its roots with more local acts and an all volunteer staff and in 1995 brought back the popular theme nights. They also tried drag boat races again, this time at Lake Walter E. Long, but the races drew little interest. It was all too little, too late and the Austin Aqua Festival folded in 1998.