Zilker Park is closed for maintenance after another Austin City Limits Music Festival, and this year the damage is drawing more attention than usual. Heavy rain during the festival’s first weekend left the Great Lawn in rough shape, and crews are now assessing how much work needs to be done before the park can fully reopen.

Austin City Council member Ryan Alter took to social media to push for changes. He called the Great Lawn a public asset that must be available for everyone after the festival, and said he’s told both C3 and city staff that something needs to change to prevent further damage. The city’s contract with C3 keeps ACL at Zilker through 2040, with the organizer paying $103,500 annually plus a share of ticket revenue directed to the Austin Parks Foundation. Parks and Recreation Director Jesús Aguirre says sections of the park will reopen as work allows, with the Great Lawn expected to follow a timeline similar to previous years.

For longtime Austin residents, this is a familiar cycle: festival comes in, park shuts down, grass slowly comes back. But with the contract locked in for another 15 years and a council member publicly calling for reform, the conversation about balancing major events with public green space is getting louder. What do you think? Should ACL change its setup to protect the Great Lawn, or is this just the cost of hosting a world-class festival?