Tagged: Fun Fun Fun Fest

In its second year at Auditorium Shores, Fun Fun Fun Fest took off. Now the City of Austin puts that growth at $27 million – the amount the fest is estimated to have pumped into Austin’s economy.

The mayor’s office announced Tuesday that the three-day underground music festival attracted a total north of 55,000 attendees. The $27 million estimate was provided by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The seventh-annual Fun Fun Fun Fest came to a conclusion last night.

In its second year at Auditorium Shores, the underground music festival drew roughly 15,000 people a day, according to co-founder James Moody. The fest also received some unexpected mainstream coverage from outlets like “Good Morning America,” which reported on the fest’s Taco Cannon loaded with grub from Torchy’s Tacos. But as Moody told KUT News this weekend, “It’s growing, but it’ll never do well as a very big festival.”

Fun Fun Fun Fest describes itself as “the darling of independent festivals for music lovers and music makers.” But this year, with headliners like Run DMC and Girl Talk, is Fun Fun Fun Fest outgrowing its underground roots?

“It’ll never become super popular,” says James Moody, co-creator of the festival and owner of music venue The Mohawk. “It’s growing, but it’ll never do well as a very big festival.” That’s because Moody says they aren’t interested in billing big names.

Moody says they try to give attention to bands that aren’t as widely known, or inspire a small but devoted following. “We try to keep people on their toes and remind people that there are no genres anymore, so we don’t try to pigeon hole with our headlines,” Moody says. “We could throw a curveball and get The Cure next year or something.”

Austin's has another big event this weekend. The seventh annual Fun Fun Fun Fest is taking place all weekend long at Auditorium Shores. The eclectic three-day festival promises underground music from all genres, along with comedy, extreme sports, food, fashion, and art.

Stay tuned to KUT News for updates from the festival, and maybe even a Ryan Gosling sighting or two. Until then, here's a preview of some of the events taking place at Fun Fun Fun Fest, along with fest-related aftershows. 

Friday

Night: For the hip-hop lovers, rap legends Run DMC and Bun B will take the stage. Hipsters will rejoice to the sounds of Santigold and Twin Sister. If that's not enough, a series of skateboard and BMX sessions are kicking off, and will run all weekend.  Each day of the festival also promises two hours of Anarchy Championship Wrestling.

Now you can know which artists are playing when at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest, set to take place November 2-4 at Auditorium Shores. The daily schedule has been released.

Headliners on Friday include Run DMC, Dillon Francis, and Twin Sister. The Saturday shows will culminate in performances by Refused, Girl Talk, Diamond Rugs, and A$AP Rocky. And Sunday’s top billed artists are Turbonegro, Etienne de Crecy, Black Moth Super Rainbow and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Tickets are on sale now. A three-day regular pass is $175. For the first time ever, Fun Fun Fun Fest is letting people buy passes in two-installments of $87.50. You can get the VIP treatment for $325. And students can obtain a three-day pass for $140. 

Couldn't make it to Fun Fun Fun Fest at Auditorium Shores this year? Festival promoters just released this video recapping the weekend-long celebration of underground and alternative music. Not surprising to see a video, considering how last year's recap became a viral hit.