ACL 2026
Releases Schedule as Austin Festival Celebrates 25 Years
ACL Festival. Photo by Pablo Herrera / TMN
Austin City Limits Music Festival has released its full 2026 schedule, giving festivalgoers their first look at exactly when and where more than 100 performances will take place as ACL Fest celebrates its 25th anniversary in Austin.
AUSTIN | TMN Editorial
The festival returns to Zilker Park for two weekends, October 2–4 and October 9–11, with performances spread across multiple stages throughout each day.
The anniversary marks 25 years since ACL Fest launched in 2002, inspired by the long-running PBS television series Austin City Limits. What began as an Austin festival has grown into one of the largest music events in the United States, bringing approximately 75,000 people per day to Zilker Park.
With the schedule now out, the question is no longer only who to see — but which sets to choose.
Friday: Charli xcx, Skrillex, Turnstile and more
Weekend One opens Friday, October 2 with a day that moves from emerging artists and longtime Austin favorites into some of the festival's biggest names.
Turnstile takes the T-Mobile Stage from 6:15–7:15 PM, while Labrinth performs on the American Express Stage from 6:30–7:30 PM. Leon Thomas follows at Miller Lite from 7:15–8:15 PM, with The Chainsmokers playing Snapchat from 7:30–8:30 PM.
Then comes one of the first major decisions of the weekend.
Skrillex begins at 8:15 PM on the T-Mobile Stage, while Charli xcx starts at 8:40 PM on the American Express Stage, putting two of Friday's biggest performances directly against each other.
Other Friday performances include Brandon Flowers, Amyl and the Sniffers, Steve Aoki, Rebecca Black, Paris Paloma, CMAT, Rusowsky and LP.
Weekend Two follows a similar Friday structure, but with one major change at the top of the bill: Kings of Leon replace Skrillex on the T-Mobile Stage at 8:15 PM on October 9, while Charli xcx once again begins at 8:40 PM across the park.
Saturday: Young Miko, Bleachers, Lorde and RÜFÜS DU SOL
Saturday brings another full afternoon and evening of overlapping sets.
Young Miko performs at 4:30 PM, followed later by Bleachers at 6:15 PM, Lola Young at 6:30 PM, Levity at 7:15 PM and Lykke Li at 7:30 PM.
The night then ends with another headliner clash.
Lorde takes the T-Mobile Stage at 8:15 PM, while RÜFÜS DU SOL begins on the American Express Stage at 8:30 PM.
Both artists return at the same times during Weekend Two on Saturday, October 10.
The Saturday lineup also includes Suki Waterhouse, Snow Strippers, Ryan Beatty, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Finn Wolfhard, Skye Newman, fakemink and more.
Sunday ends with The xx vs. Twenty One Pilots
Sunday may bring the hardest choice of the entire festival.
Before the final sets, Geese performs at 6:30 PM, while Sofi Tukker also begins at 6:30 PM on the opposite side of the grounds.
At 7:30 PM, three notable performances overlap: Parcels, Blood Orange and The War on Drugs.
And at 8:30 PM, ACL Fest closes with two headliners starting simultaneously: The xx on the T-Mobile Stage and Twenty One Pilots on the American Express Stage.
That same closing conflict returns for Weekend Two on October 11.
Sunday's schedule also features Audrey Hobert, Saint Motel, Noga Erez, Fcukers, Claire Rosinkranz, Max McNown and others, with some of the earlier-day lineup changing between the two weekends.
The Killers at ACL 2025. Photo by Chris Phelps ACL Festival.
25 years of ACL Fest
The 2026 edition arrives as ACL Fest looks back on a quarter-century in Austin.
Since launching in 2002, the festival has developed into a two-weekend event rooted in Zilker Park while continuing to mix major international acts with emerging artists and music from Austin and beyond. Its programming has moved across pop, rock, electronic music, hip-hop, folk, R&B, country and other genres over the years.
This year's edition continues that mix across two weekends — but now that the set times are public, festivalgoers can finally begin building their actual routes through the park.
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2026 takes place October 2–4 and October 9–11 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The complete schedule is available through the official ACL Fest website and mobile app.
ACL x TMN
TMN covered ACL Fest in Austin in 2025, documenting the festival through interviews, photography and video created by our young creators. You can revisit that coverage in our ACL Fest playlist on YouTube, featuring performances, festival moments and conversations from Zilker Park.
