AUSTIN, TX (October 3, 2017) – Austin Parks Foundation (APF) is proud to announce that for the first time ever, they will be the presenting sponsor of the Rock & Recycle Program during both weekends of this year’s ACL Fest, Oct 6–8 and Oct 13–15 at Zilker Park. For the past 12 years, APF has been the presenting partner and primary beneficiary of ACL Fest. But this year, APF will be enhancing its presence at the festival as the presenting sponsor of the Rock & Recycle Program, which seeks to help further green the festival by encouraging festival-goers to join in the recycling effort.

Rock & Recycle encourages attendees to take part by picking up a bag of recyclables from the grounds during one of their days spent at the festival. Fans that participate will receive a specially designed ACL Fest lineup tee, and they will be entered into drawings to win a Fairdale bicycle (one given away each weekend of the Festival) and a pair of 2018 ACL Fest tickets (one pair given away each night).

For every participant in the Rock & Recycle Program and the brand new Recycling Tour, APF will allocate $5 to their Recycling in Parks initiative. In addition to Rock & Recycle, APF has brought together partners to add additional activities, including the following:

• Recycling Tour: In partnership with HOPE (of the HOPE outdoor gallery), APF is placing 12 artist-designed recycling bins throughout the park. Some of the featured artists include J "Give 1" Muzacz, Toni Ardizzone, and Mleeding. Festival attendees can check in at the Rock & Recycle HQ to grab a Recycling Tour passport and then visit each of the 12 bins to fill in their passports and learn a little about APF’s recycling efforts, ACL’s greening programs, and more. Fans can bring completed passports back to the HQ and enter to win a pair of 2018 ACL Fest tickets each weekend.
• Keep Austin Beautiful Relays: Keep Austin Beautiful will use a fun relay race activity to teach fans about how litter travels fast in our urban watershed as well as how to properly recycle and compost.
• Happy Birthday to Zilker: 2017 is Zilker Park’s 100th anniversary, and fans will be invited to help APF color a birthday candle mural that will be installed in the park after the festival. Additionally, there will be exclusive ACL Fest and Zilker 100 branded merchandise, including hats and koozies, available for sale in ACL’s Merchandise Tent with proceeds going to APF and Zilker Park.
• Live Painting with HOPE: As a special treat, the artists that design the 12 recycling tour bins, and special Rock & Recycle lineup tees, will be on site each day of the festival, and fans can stop by to watch the masters work.

In 2016, APF piloted a program to examine the challenges of recycling in parks and how the City of Austin’s Parks & Recreation Department, Austin Resource Recovery and APF could work together to make recycling in all public parks a reality. APF is now helping to fund a city-wide initiative to increase recycling availability, helping Austinites leave no trace in our parks.

For more information on Rock & Recycle and Austin Parks Foundation’s programs during ACL Fest 2017, visit www.aclfestival.com/rock-and-recycle. ###

ABOUT AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION:
Austin Parks Foundation (APF) is dedicated to partnering with our community to enhance people’s lives by making our public parks, trails and green spaces better through volunteerism, innovative programming, advocacy and financial support. A non-profit established in 1992, APF fills the city’s funding and resource gap in order to develop, maintain and enhance the area’s 300+ parks, trails and green spaces. APF fosters innovative public/private partnerships and since 2006, has given over $2.5 million in community-initiated grants in service to the greater Austin community. APF is known for its annual flagship volunteer event, It’s My Park Day, and is a presenting partner and beneficiary of the popular Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Metropolitan Park. For more information, please visit www.austinparks.org.