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Austin
August 19, 2017
At dusk nearly every night in summer, the hot muggy air encompassing downtown Austin suddenly fills with 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats—forming what resembles a torrential hurricane as they pour out from under the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and take off across the river. Tourists line up daily on and around the bridge—some setting up picnics, some in canoes or balancing on stand-up paddleboards on the water—to catch a glimpse of the colony as it takes flight. And on August 19, the city aims to celebrate its winged residents with its annual festival on the bridge. The family-friendly event offers children’s activities, a batty costume contest, and live music from Blue October, American Authors, Warren G, Puddle of Mudd, and others. While the day’s activities are well planned, the timing of the bats’ flight is not (they’re wild animals, after all). Experts predict their emergence to occur sometime between 7 and 8:45 p.m. and last for half an hour.
Photo: Will van Overbeek
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Marble Falls
August 11–13, 2017
Start your engines and head to Lake Marble Falls, whose calm, warm waters will once again transform into a veritable racetrack for this annual spectacle. More than a hundred boats will reach speeds of more than 260 mph as they race across this reservoir on a bend in the Colorado River for the 26th consecutive year. As racers take to their boats each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the banks of the lake turn into a lake party, with a special treat for spectators beginning after dusk: a free concert at the Johnson Park Amphitheater. While there, fans can see the boats up close, take photos with their favorites, and meet the drivers. On Sunday, the winners drive away with more than $100,000 in prizes.
Photo: Kevin Stillman
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Dallas
Through August 20, 2017
Among the luminaries of the world’s great contemporary artists, Roni Horn has a new summer exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas—her first museum presentation in the United States since 2010. It features the large-scale, cast-glass work she has become renowned for: eight cylindrical glass sculptures of varying colors spaced somewhat sporadically throughout the museum’s main gallery. Make no mistake: the minimalist positioning is intentional—its strange, isolated beauty is one of the mainstays of the sculptor’s oeuvre.
Photo: courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center
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