Austin is a busy city with a lot of concerts, festivals and Texas sporting events. But this year, the stars have aligned and two of Texas students’ biggest events conflict this Oct. 13.
Yes, your worst fears have been confirmed. The Red River Rivalry and the Austin City Limits Music Festival fall on the same weekend.
Texas students will have to make the decision between running around Zilker Park for three days listening to music or eating everything that could possibly be fried at the State Fair of Texas and watching the 107th meeting of Texas and Oklahoma.
That’s tough.
Psychology junior Sarah Kettles is very frustrated that she has to decide between the two events.
“As I’m preparing to enter my senior year at UT, I’m finding it really difficult to fathom choosing between the Texas versus OU game and ACL,” Kettles said. “Both of these events are traditions that I have enjoyed since my freshman year and they both mean so much to me to be able to participate in. While it is possible to do both, it’s not possible to fully experience both and that is the most frustrating part of this situation.”
This isn’t the first time the Red River Rivalry has been scheduled on a controversial day. Last season, the game was on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Many Jewish students were not only unable to attend, but also unable to watch the game. The 2014 game is also scheduled on Yom Kippur.
Journalism sophomore Kelly Fine was disappointed last year when she couldn’t attend the game due to her Jewish practices. This season, she will have to make a decision between the two events.
“I think it will really divide the market for two of UT’s biggest social events,” Fine said. “Personally, it’s going to be a really difficult decision. We should be doing an infinitely better job planning our football schedule.”
Planning a schedule for an entire conference is no simple task. But both ACL and the Red River Rivalry are important parts of being a student at Texas and many students will be torn between the two events.
Both events are important parts of the student experience at Texas. It is unfortunate and unfair that students will have to choose between arguably Texas’ most important game of the year and one of Austin’s biggest events.
“The Oklahoma game is an event that many UT Austin students don’t want to miss, and ACL is of course an iconic event that is anticipated every year,” said finance junior Sunayana Yadav. “Having both of these events on the same day/weekend puts many students in a bind between a school tradition and a cultural and musical event.”
Printed on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 as: Texas-OU weekend same days as ACL, students must decide
