After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Austin City Limits Music Festival returns this year from Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 8-10. New this year is a requirement for proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result to attend.

The festival’s return also means the return of traffic patterns unique to the Zilker Park-based event.

“Don’t forget to make transportation part of your pre-festival preparations as well. There is no parking located at Zilker Park or in the surrounding neighborhoods, so take advantage of other methods to access the music all weekend long,” the Austin Transportation Department said in a press release.

The city will close off several roads around the park both weekends, including:

• Stratford Drive from Nature Center Drive to Barton Springs Road starting Thursday at 6 p.m. through Monday at 6 a.m. both weekends;
• Barton Springs Road from Rollingwood Drive to Barton Boulevard starting Thursday at 8 p.m. through Monday at 6 a.m. both weekends;
• Azie Morton from Barton Springs Road to Lund Road from Friday to Sunday at 11 a.m. to midnight both weekends; and
• Access to northbound MoPac from RM 2244 both weekends.

It also will close off Barton Springs Road from Lamar Boulevard to Barton Boulevard, Toomey Road and Butler Road to westbound vehicular traffic.

Attendees will have several options to get to and from the event, including shuttles, Capital Metro buses, MetroBikes and ride-hailing apps.

The shuttles go from Republic Square in downtown to the festival grounds, starting at noon on each Friday and 11 a.m. on each Saturday and Sunday. Face masks will be required on shuttles, according to the Austin Transportation Department press release.

Capital Metro also runs several bus routes with stops near the festival, including MetroBus routes 3, 4 and 10 as well as MetroRapid route 803. All rides are free in October.

The city of Austin lists parkings stations for scooters and bikes on Azie Morton and Toomey, as well as MetroBike drop offs on Sterzing Street and across the Colorado River.

The event will also have three pickup spots for ride-hailing apps on the MoPac frontage road, across the Colorado River and near Lamar Boulevard, as well as a taxi stand on William Barton Drive. According to the press release, searching “Austin City Limits Music Festival” or “Zilker Park” will show ride-hailing app users where to go for their rides.

In a press release, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport also noted October typically breaks records for passenger traffic, due in part to the music festival. The airport expects large volumes of passengers throughout both weekends and recommends arriving 2 1/2 hours early for domestic flights.