The 2022 ACL Fest economic impact was revealed on Tuesday, May 9th – awarding an additional $7.2 million dollars to Austin’s parks on behalf of ACL’s parent company, C3 Presents.
C3 Presents COO, Emmett Beliveau, and Austin Parks Foundation CEO, Colin Wallis, were joined by Mayor Kirk Watson, PARD Assistant Director, Liana Kallivoka and council members from District 1, Natasha Harper-Madison, District 9, Zohaib Qadri, and District 10, Alison Alter for the check presentation at Govalle Neighborhood Park
An 18-Year Partnerships Benefitting Austin’s Parks
Austin Parks Foundation is a longtime partner with C3 Presents and the ACL Music Festival, which has contributed more than $55 million dollars towards park projects over the last 18 years. APF receives a portion of the ticket sales from each year’s event, and 2022’s impact was the greatest yet at $7.2 million—a whopping $500,000 increase from the previous year!
“This partnership has allowed us to transform and make important improvements to our parks, trails and green spaces in every area of the city,” Wallis remarked. “I can’t emphasize enough how critical ACL Fest funding is to Austin’s parks and how thankful we at APF are to be a part of this event.”
ACL Fest funding supports parks projects across Austin. This year’s presentation took place at the newly completed Govalle Neighborhood Park in District 1, which benefited from $650,000 of ACL funds in March of 2020 and another $300,000 in March 2021.
(Read more about the Govalle Neighborhood Park Renovation here)
APF is proud to dedicate ACL Music Festival funds to improving our city’s public parks on a broader, more inclusive scope through important projects such as:
- The restoration of the historic Henry G. Madison Cabin in District 1’s Rosewood Neighborhood Park
- The Onion Creek Metropolitan Park in District 2, where APF will be planning and designing Austin’s first all-abilities playground
- Ongoing maintenance and trail improvements to the beloved Barton Creek Greenbelt
As well as supporting community-initiated grant projects across all 10 City Council districts, APF works closely with the Parks and Recreation Department to identify priority projects from their extensive list of underfunded improvements across Austin, many of which disproportionately affect communities on Austin’s Eastern Crescent.
“Thanks to the partnership between APF and ACL Fest, improvements to important public places in our district will be possible,” District 1 Councilwoman, Natasha Harper-Madison added. “It’s a good day when we can see significant financial investment in our communities!”
(Learn more about APF’s involvement with ACL Fest here)
