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Austin really turned up the heat this past week! It started with a heat advisory, and the hottest day of the year so far around July 21 (103 degrees!). ERCOT said we broke its all-time power demand record twice in back-to-back days, smashing the old 2023 record by almost 6,000 Megawatts. In surprising good news, the grid somehow held up; there was still a comfy ~20 gigawatt buffer, no emergency calls, prices stayed relatively low. Batteries stepped up big time at sunset, discharging over 10 GW. This heat wave was the second major challenge this summer for our infrastructure after the heavy Hill Country rain earlier in July triggered disaster declarations from Mayor Watson and the county judge, plus rescues and evacuations.
Over at City Hall, officials finally admitted what everyone had been wondering for months: Amazon is the mystery company behind Dog's Head. It had been hiding under the codename "Project Toaster," with the city and developer Endeavor refusing to name names because of confidentiality agreements, even as they fast-tracked the whole 2,600-acre annexation back in May with barely any public heads up. Turns out it's Amazon's robotics division eyeing a 300-acre manufacturing facility which is estimated to bring 300-500 jobs paying $75K-$150K and open by late 2027. Two days later, the council held its divided vote to approve the financing (a $2.2 billion TIRZ) despite a solid crowd of protesters outside City Hall. Some of them noted that Amazon's Jeff Bezos would now basically be neighbors with Elon Musk's Gigafactory.
Separately, Austin's about to get its first-ever citywide efficiency audit, with a vote coming July 30 to bring in a Pennsylvania firm that beat out 24 other bidders to comb through every single city department. That could certainly shake up budget conversations way more than one development deal, especially with council already knee-deep in hashing out next year's spending plan and fighting over police funding versus social services.
Food-wise, it was typically bittersweet. On the sadder side, Mudbugs, the Cajun spot in Buda, announced on July 16 it's closing with a vague nod to "the times we are in," though they're apparently focused on finishing paying staff first. Drinki Soda Co., the trailer-based soda shop, is also leaving Austin (last day was July 26), with the owner citing her mother's passing and relocating, though she hasn't said where to yet. On the flip side, Zilker Brewing and La Barbecue's long-running collab beer, La Beer, just got a big distribution boost and it's now at H-E-B, Central Market, Barton Hills Food Mart, as well as a few other spots for the first time since 2021. And a free Pickle Palooza party planned for August 1 to celebrate! Suerte, the East Austin Mexican spot from chef Fermín Núñez, is spicing up its Lucky Hour happy-hour menu with rotating specials like a seasonal ceviche tostada and guac with fried lentils. And great news for our long suffering educators: teachers across Austin ISDs get free meals July 28 from Jack Allen's Kitchen, Salt Traders, and Day Maker Half Day Cafe. Lastly, Toasty Badger on South Congress is doing a book-swap dinner on July 30: bring a wrapped book, get a three-course meal for $30.
This week, we are leaning into the DIY weirdness with a lot of offbeat crafting events, while the nighlife brings full moon pool parties, cathartic music (think emo, grunge and punk) as well as lots of niche competition (pinball, chicken wings, pickles, wrestling)! As always, don’t miss anything and check out the full list.
Monday, Jul 27
Beat Sessions
7pm – 10pm @ Spokesman South, FREE!
Austin's homegrown live-art battle returns: artists paint head-to-head on a timer while the crowd votes with cash or Venmo, no judges involved. Limited-edition tees get printed on-site by the winning artists themselves, check Spokesman's calendar for the night's lineup.
Queer Service Industry Dance & Social
9pm–11pm @ Butterfly Bar, FREE!
A laid-back social for Austin's queer service-industry workers, with drink specials, a DJ set from DJ KShal, and a free Watermelon Film Club screening starting an hour earlier. RSVP here to dance with the people actually running this city's bars.
Mindful Mondays: Meditation, Energy Healing, & Psychic Fun!
6pm–8pm @ Casa de Luz, FREE!
A free weekly gathering for Austin's grounded, heart-centered spiritual-community-seekers, blending meditation with energy work and a little psychic play. No cost, no pressure, just drop in and see who's there.
Amplify Book Club: Lush
7pm @ BookPeople, FREE!
Hosts Tori and Zareef lead a monthly discussion built specifically around Black, Indigenous, and People of Color authors, this month digging into "Lush." It's a free, standing invitation to widen the shelf, check BookPeople's events page for the details.
STERN-ament Pinball Tournament
7:30pm @ Pinballz Original Arcade, $10 entry
Nine Stern machines, five qualifying rounds, and one champion in an IFPA-certified Swiss-style tournament open to total beginners and seasoned competitors alike. Bring your A-game and reserve your spot before the double-elimination bracket fills up.
More interesting events on Monday @ WhatsGoodATX!
Tuesday, Jul 28
Foam Party (for dogs!) 🫧
6:30pm @ Bark House Social, $15, (dogs must be spayed/neutered and 8+ months)
A flea-and-tick shampoo relaunch is the excuse; a bar full of suds-covered dogs is the actual point. The first 150 guests get gift bags, there's an on-site photographer for the inevitable soggy portraits, and yes, the humans need ID even though the guests of honor have four legs.
Simpsons Trivia Night inside Calamity
7–9pm @ Hole in the Wall, FREE!
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica-adjacent chaos, but for the Simpsons specifically, tucked into the back room at Calamity inside one of Austin's oldest dive bars. Nothing to buy, nothing to RSVP for, just show up and defend your D'oh-based honor.
Mujer Manifesto Zine Volume 6: Metamorphosis, Release Party & Group Exhibition
7–9pm @ MoonTower Cider, Suggested donation $10
The Gallery ATX celebrates its sixth zine issue with a group show built around transformation, shedding old selves, the slow work of becoming someone new. A dozen-plus local artists and writers contributed, and DJ JO is running the soundtrack for what's essentially a living-room art opening with better cider.
Do Not Disturb | A Phone Jail Workshop
6 – 8pm @ Monica's Porch, $30
You'll meditate for a few minutes on what you actually enjoy doing, then decorate a cigar box with paint and pom-poms to serve as your phone's new timeout spot. It's a craft night with an intervention built in. BYOB is encouraged!
More interesting events on Tuesday @ WhatsGoodATX!
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Wednesday, Jul 29
National Chicken Wing Day Eating Contest
6:45 PM @ Victory Lap (Rainey), FREE!
Eight contestants selected from video submissions face off over wings from Side Piece Pies, with a full year of free wings on the line for the winner. Stick around after for Chicken Sh*t Bingo at 7, plus $1 wings and a spicy Cluck & Fire margarita for everyone else.
JEOPARDY! Interactive
7 PM @ Alamo Drafthouse, $15
A live, play-along Jeopardy! night on the big screen, buzzers and all, for anyone who's ever yelled an answer at the TV and wanted the point to actually count. Standard Alamo food and drink service runs throughout.
Full Moon Swim
5–10 PM @ Austin Motel, FREE!
Every full moon this summer, Austin's hunk-in-residence DJ Sunset Canyon spins vaporwave, indie sleaze, and yacht rock poolside while the water stays open till 10. There's no cover and no pretense, just nostalgic bliss at a motel pool that's seen weirder nights than this. Doors at 5, tunes kick in at 7.
Slackers Silent Book Club
6–9 PM @ Slackers Brewing Co, FREE!
No assigned reading, no discussion pressure, just a room of people quietly working through their own books over good beer, with background tunes and an optional social hour tacked on at the end. It's the anti-networking event, and that's the whole appeal.
Explore Creative Collage
6 – 8 PM @ Hotel Ella, $29
A low-stakes, low-skill-required session of assembling paper, tape, and glue into something worth hanging on the fridge, hosted on the Soularis journey platform. Materials are provided, so the only thing to bring is a willingness to make something a little ugly on purpose.
Emo Karaoke
9 PM–2 AM @ Hotel Vegas & The Volstead Lounge, FREE!
TX Emo Club hosts a no-cover karaoke night built entirely around scream-singing your angstiest 2000s deep cuts with strangers who get it. Sign-ups start at 8:30, and the whole thing runs until 2am for those who need the full catharsis arc.
More interesting events on Wednesday @ WhatsGoodATX!
Thursday, Jul 30
Nerd Nite Austin: Reimagined
7:30pm @ Barrel O' Fun, FREE!
Twelve years to the month since their Nerd Nite debut, Jason Neulander and Buzz Moran return to break down two very specific obsessions: inventing a new theater form that mashes up radio plays with graphic novel art, and the near-extinct craft of Foley sound effects. Get there early, free means the good seats go fast, and there will be volunteer ASL interpretation on hand.
A Summer Night of Grunge
8pm @ Mohawk Austin, $15.50
Three tribute acts, Dankeshön (Nirvana), Three Legged Dog (Alice in Chains), and Firecracker Smile (Stone Temple Pilots), resurrect the '90s in full at Mohawk's indoor stage. Grab tickets and gather your friends for a night that's part flannel cosplay, part genuine catharsis.
Night at the Museum
5:30pm–8:30pm @ George Washington Carver Museum, FREE!
This month's community mixer kicks off with the National Forum of Black Public Administrators, spotlighting a Black-led organization alongside a guest performance artist. Cocktail attire is encouraged and light bites are on the house, a low-key, dressed-up way to spend a Thursday evening.
Sonny Angel Bedazzling Night
6pm–8pm @ Create Studio ATX, $40.24
Crack open a blind box, trade your Sonny Angel with strangers, then glue rhinestones onto the little guy until he's unrecognizable. This is exactly as niche and joyful as it sounds, and the crowd will know precisely why that's funny.
Swim Session No. 24 ★ DJ CASSANDRA
7pm–10pm @ The LINE Hotel Austin, ~$12
Poolside DJ sets at sunset, with every dollar of the suggested donation funneled to community initiatives. It's the second stop in a five-part series building toward The Front Festival, bring a suit, capacity is limited.
Tarot Card Collage Workshop w/ Skelley Cat
6:30pm–8:30pm @ Trinkets South Austin Craft Social, $33
Part craft night, part divination practice: cut, paste, and build your own tarot deck by hand under the guidance of a working collage artist. Sign up here, no mystical experience required, just scissors and an open mind.
Y'allternative Line Dance Party (18+)
8pm–11pm @ Elysium, $10
Newbie-friendly line-dance lessons set to alt, emo, and everything in between, built for queers, allies, and misfits alike. Request a song in advance and they'll choreograph it for you on the spot.
Find more fun stuff on Thursday @ WhatsGoodATX!
Friday, Jul 31
Coffee & Art Dates
12:00 PM @ Simona’s Coffee & Cocktails, FREE!
Bring a sketchbook, a journal, whatever, this is a no-pressure hangout for people who want to make something while they caffeinate. It's free, it's casual, and details are here if you need convincing to leave the house before noon on a Friday.
Speak No More: Lovecraft
8:00 PM @ 922 W 12th St, $30 ($10 sliding scale tix available)
An immersive, improvised, entirely BIPOC-scored take on Lovecraft's tropes, performed silently with ASL, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian introductions, the first arrivals draw secrets from a deck and assign them to performers, so no two nights repeat. More on the production here; multiple viewings are actively encouraged since it's never the same show twice.
Brewed & Botanical
10:00 AM @ Pinthouse Brewing, $7
Turn beer cans into planters and pull tabs into keychains at this brewery craft night, the closest Austin gets to alchemy for seven dollars. Sip, snip, and leave with tiny treasures you didn't know you needed.
Fitness in the Park: Summer Yoga Series with Habitat
7:00 AM @ Zilker Park, FREE!
Sunrise yoga followed by a cold plunge at Barton Springs, the kind of wholesome masochism that only makes sense before 8 AM. RSVP is required, and it runs every Friday through September, so there's no excuse for sleeping through it more than once.
Wild Shape Night: Dino Island
7:00 PM–11:55 PM @ the Tiny Minotaur Tavern, $10 day pass, 21+
This month's installment of the tavern's creature-costume series goes prehistoric: T-Rex, Betty Rubble, or fantasy paleontologist, scientific accuracy strictly optional. Details and membership perks are on the Tiny Minotaur's site, and yes, street clothes are still welcome if your dinosaur costume didn't come together in time.
UNLOCKED: From the Journal to the Stage
10:00 PM @ Fallout Theater, $19.32
Strangers read from their actual journals, live, on purpose. "Open the journal, get vulnerable, do it for the bit" is the entire pitch, and tickets are here if that sounds like the right kind of uncomfortable.
PICKLESTOCK 2026
8:00 PM @ Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze, $20 single-day, All Ages
Twenty bands across two days of punk, ska, garage rock, and whatever else falls under "underground", Friday's lineup includes Society's Joke, Trump Card, and Chris Toast and the Jerks. Kick Butt Coffee's site has the venue details, DIY spirit, free parking, completely unbothered by subtlety.
WoW: All Women Wrestling Tournament and Beer Release Party
7:00 PM–10:00 PM @ St. Elmo Brewing Springdale, $12
A women's wrestling tournament timed to a beer release, because why should either event stand alone. Tickets and details here for a Friday night that's equal parts body slams and hazy IPA.
More amazingness on Friday @ WhatsGoodATX !
Saturday, Aug 1
Thrift & Sip: Declutter Edition
11am - 1pm @ Heartening - $9
Thrift the racks at Heartening, known for its $3 price tags, then head over to West China Tea House to swap decluttering strategies with Christina of @homeasportal. Your ticket includes a free first pot of tea and a thrift guide, so come for the thrift and stay for the sip.
Pickle-Palooza
4–8pm @ Zilker Brewing Company, FREE!
A public pickle-tasting (and pickle eating!) competition where Austin bars and restaurants, The Grackle, Liberty Bar, Canje among them, battle for briny supremacy. Vote for your favorite, drink good beer, and pretend this is a normal way to spend a Saturday. Event details here.
Open Canopy: Free Art Studio Crawl
1–4pm @ 916 Springdale Road, FREE!
Wander through working artist studios and pop-up galleries in East Austin, catch a few DJ sets, and meet the people actually making the work. This is Austin's creative underbelly with the doors thrown wide open, details and RSVP.
Curia Arcanum House of Curiosities
1pm @ Curia Arcanum's House of Curiosities, FREE!
A cabinet-of-curiosities museum where the oddities, wet specimens included, are also for sale. Part gift shop, part fever dream, this is the kind of afternoon detour that makes for a genuinely strange story later. More details on Facebook.
CenTex Bike Fest: 90's Lowrider Bicycle Build Off
12–5pm @ South Austin Recreation Center, FREE!
Artists of all ages show off custom lowrider bicycle builds in a build-off competition that's part car show, part sculpture garden, all bicycle. A genuinely offbeat way to spend an afternoon, more info on Facebook.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show with O'Brien's Orchestra
10:30pm @ Southwest Theaters, $13 (18+)
A live shadowcast with full guided audience participation, bring your own prop bag or buy one at the door, just leave the rice and glitter at home. It's the quintessential midnight movie, done properly. Grab tickets here.
PICKLESTOCK 2026: Day 2
5pm–12am @ Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze, $20 single day / $30 two-day
Twenty bands, one martial-arts-themed coffee shop, and a whole weekend dedicated to punk, ska, and DIY garage rock. Day 2 brings The Beelzebubbas, Falling Knives, and a dozen more acts proving the local underground scene is alive and loud, full lineup and tickets here.
Leo Zodiac Party w/ DEDNAMEZ, The Bottomless, End Of Evergreen
7pm @ The Far Out Lounge & Stage, $10 GA (Leos half off)
A birthday bash thrown for an entire zodiac sign, complete with Leo-themed cocktails, tarot readings, and a lineup built to make some noise. Buy tickets here, and if you're a Leo, bring ID for the discount.
The Karaoke Underground
8pm–1am @ Knomad Bar, FREE!
Skip the pop standards, this is karaoke for the Misfits, Sleater-Kinney, and Fugazi crowd, video screens and all. It's been praised by everyone from The Village Voice to Buzzfeed, and it's still one of the best free nights out in town for anyone who'd rather scream than croon.
Other cool stuff happening on Saturday @ WhatsGoodATX !
Sunday, Aug 2
Swim Session No. 25 ★ Do Not Disturb Collective
12pm–4pm @ The LINE Hotel Austin, $10
Do Not Disturb Collective takes over the LINE's pool deck for a four-hour DJ set from Sonder and JP, with art installations, food from Veracruz Tacos, and full staycation energy. Part of the run-up to The Front Festival, every dollar of the donation-based cover goes back into the local arts community.
Comedy Cocktails & Conversations
7pm–9pm @ Riches Art Gallery, $12.51+
HBO/Netflix headliner Blaqron brings stand-up and an unfiltered adult Q&A to an art gallery setting, which is a stranger and better pairing than most comedy nights manage. Limited seats, so don't dawdle on tickets.
Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration
Doors at 12pm @ The Far Out Lounge & Stage, $13
Mostly Dead, Flounders, Six Foot Ten, and The Mighty High pay tribute to Jerry Garcia's birthday with an afternoon of jam-band worship under the open sky. A low-key, sun-soaked way to celebrate the Dead's patron saint.
Panel Discussion & Mixer: Culture Can't Be Automated, Or Can It?
3pm–5pm (mixer at 4pm) @ AFS Cinema, FREE with RSVP
Filmmakers, writers, and tech professionals dig into who gets to feed the machine when AI starts generating narratives, faces, and voices, with particular attention to what that means for Black storytellers. Part of the Pan African Film Festival's Austin run, registration is required even though admission is free.
YEEHAWTIES: A Honky Tonk Pool Party
2pm–6pm @ Austin Motel, FREE!
Neon Rainbows' queer honky tonk pool party returns with DJ ED WEST spinning good-time tonkin' beats, drag performances poolside, and the triumphant reappearance of Lady Bull Johnson. Boots, bathing suits, and line dancing around the pool, RSVP is required but the door is free.
Pandemonium Pro Wrestling Presents: JoJo
Doors 2pm, bell 3pm @ Pinballz Lake Creek, GA $25+
Pandemonium Pro makes its official Texas debut with 30+ wrestlers and 12+ matches across one ring, and the whole show doubles as a celebration of life for wrestler Jordan "JoJo" Saint, with proceeds going to his family. Expect a packed card and genuine emotional stakes underneath the body slams.
Dungeons & Drafthouse: Case of the Unholy Murder
12pm–4pm @ Barrel o' Fun, $36.64
A new one-shot D&D adventure led by a professional Dungeon Master, welcoming total newcomers and grizzled veterans alike into the same party. Monthly, drop-in friendly, and exactly the kind of chaos a barrel-themed bar deserves.
House of Deviants
5pm, 7pm @ The Historic Baker School, $30+
House of Deviance and Futch Fetish team up for an evening of sapphic drag, pole, and burlesque kicking off Austin Pride season. The lineup leans defiant on purpose, this is a tribute to the elders who built queer community despite everything stacked against them, not just a party.
The Musical Comedy Laboratorium
7pm–8pm @ Fallout Theater, $12.38
A variety musical comedy show billed as "experiments on musically enhanced foolery," which is either a warning or a promise depending on your tolerance for improvised showtunes. Cheap, weird, and exactly one hour long.
Sip + Solder Mushrooms: Stained Glass Workshop
12pm–4pm @ Austin Beerworks Sprinkle Valley, $80 solo / $140 for two
A four-hour beginner class where you assemble and solder your own mushroom-shaped stained glass suncatcher, no experience required. Bring nothing, leave with an actual work of art and possibly a new appreciation for lead-came construction.
More interesting events on Sunday @ WhatsGoodATX!
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