Austin Goes Batty! (Batfest 2008!)

06-every-day1We know that Austin is weird…in fact, we love to be known as “weird”. As in “Keep Austin Weird” (which to Austinites means original, funky,eclectic, etc). But we are also “batty” for those little creatures of the night (no, I am not speaking of all the cool musicians out there). I am speaking of those winged creatures “tadarida brasiliensis” or better known as the mexican free tailed bat in more simple terms. And yes, in Austin about 40,000 or so residents actually come out on the 1st Street bridge and wait for 2 million or so of these little creatures to come flying out around dark during Batfest in late summer. Of course, we also have 30 bands and 2 stages and loads of food, drink, 125 Arts and Crafts booths, bat art, a petting zoo for the kiddos(no bats included here) and even a cool Bat Costume Contest to top off the evening’s adventures. And all of this fun and music for only a $5.00 admission! This past week-end (August 30, 31st) was the 4th Annual Batfest. And we had music starting from 2 pm and going to nearly midnight on Saturday night. Saturday night was a double treat for this batfest attendee with both the Bodeans (www.bodeans.com) and at 10:30 the legendary rocker, Edgar Winter (www.edgarwinter.com). What a way to close out a Saturday night!…By the way, I was so hooked on the music and the booths that I never did see the bats, but I had a wonderful time. Click here to hear some wonderful music by the Bodeans….sorry Edgar, ….they were my favorite for years before I saw you at Batfest! 06-every-day