“It’s like my national holiday,” Presley Dotson said. “I always tell everyone I count down to ACL. I love it here.” Dotson, a journalism sophomore, started attending ACL with her family at 10 years old. Throughout childhood, Dotson’s mother or her friend’s parents chaperoned the excursion. Now 20, her ACL experiences have changed over the years, though one thing remains the same: attending with friends. “(I have) a new experience every single time I come here,” Dotson said. “That’s what makes it fun. If I weren’t here I would have so much FOMO.”

ACL proves a hallmark of the Austin and UT experience, one that Dotson now shares with her new college companions. Dotson said she follows a festival routine honed from

her 10 years of ACL experience. “I was telling (my friend) random directions, (that) I always meet at that big balloon in the center or all my favorite food places,” Dotson said. “I know the general ways around.”

Journalism sophomore and Californian Emma Slaughter attended all three days of the festival with Dotson this year. However, last year for Slaughter’s first ACL, she tagged along

with an acquaintance she met in class and their roommate. After the festival, she said they grew so much closer she now considers them some of her best friends. 

“You have to stick together (during the festival),” Slaughter said. “Bonding over music and helping with each other’s outfits, it makes everyone closer.”

Other Austinites, like corporate communication freshman Carly Klingelberger, use the annual event as an opportunity to blend friend groups. Klingelberger has attended ACL since she was four years old and said she often runs into hometown friends while at ACL.

“A lot of people who don’t go to UT will come back for ACL,” Klingelberger said. “People I’ve met in college get to meet people I knew in high school.” ACL’s Austin Kiddie Limits,

Tag-Your-Kid program and overall family-friendly atmosphere allow young Austinites to grow up with the festival. Slaughter grew up in California where she said high schoolers rarely attended music festivals like Coachella.

“I see high schoolers here (at ACL) and it shows how much Austin comes together,” Slaughter said. “It’s such a chill festival, and that’s why people of all ages can go.”

Dotson said ACL is integrated into Austin and represents much of Austin’s culture.

“(Austin is the) live music capital of the world,” Dotson said. “(ACL is) live music and people being free and (having) fun. Austin’s all about that.”