Austin City Limits to require proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccination to attend festival

Attendees must bring a printed copy to festival

(Photo by Jim Bennett/FilmMagic)

Austin City Limits will require attendees of its two-weekend festival to show either proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative test as Texas experiences a surge of infections.

Officials with the ACL festival made the announcement on Thursday, two months before the event is scheduled to take place on Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 8-10 at Zilker Park.

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The negative test must be obtained within 72 hours of the festival-goer attending the event, according to an email from ACL. Those who are fully vaccinated against the virus can show their vaccination card instead of the test results.

Attendees must bring a printed copy of their proof to the festival.

Guidance on masks will be issued closer to the start of the event.

The new ACL requirement was announced as one of the headliners initially set for the event, Stevie Nicks, pulled out due to concerns over the pandemic. The rocker canceled performances at four other festivals across the U.S., too, saying “I want everyone to be safe and healthy and the rising Covid cases should be of concern to all of us.”

Nicks was supposed to have performed on Sunday nights with rapper DaBaby, who was booted from the festival’s lineup due to recent homophobic comments.

DaBaby was replaced with Tyler, The Creator, and Nicks was replaced by Duran, Duran.

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About the Author

Rebecca Salinas is an award-winning digital journalist who joined KSAT in 2019. She reports on a variety of topics for KSAT 12 News.

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