Austin · Month comparison
October vs March
October ranks #1 overall vs March at #3. Austin's finest month — ACL Festival plus Formula 1 Grand Prix in perfect 26°C weather.
October
#1 of 12 months
Best match
Austin's finest month — ACL Festival plus Formula 1 Grand Prix in perfect 26°C weather.
- ↑ACL Music Festival (two weekends): 75+ acts across 8 stages in Zilker Park — one of the USA's best
- ↑Formula 1 US Grand Prix (late October): Circuit of the Americas, the biggest F1 race in America
March
#3 of 12 months
Best match
SXSW month — 400,000 visitors, the world's best emerging music, and hotel rates to match.
- ↑SXSW (mid-March): the world's most important music and technology conference — 2,000+ acts across 100+ venues
- ↑Perfect spring weather (21°C): outdoor stages on Rainey Street and 6th Street in full swing
| Factor | October | March |
|---|---|---|
| Weather score | 9 | 8 |
| Value score | 4 | 4 |
| Crowd score | 4 | 4 |
| Events score | 10 | 10 |
| Atmosphere | 9 | 9 |
| Avg high temp | 26°C | 21°C |
| Monthly rain | 129mm | 70mm |
| Daily sunshine | 7.5hrs | 7hrs |
October trade-offs
- ↓The most expensive month by a distance: hotels triple or quadruple for ACL and F1 weekends
- ↓Zilker Park and South Congress flooded with 450,000+ ACL attendees across the two weekends
- ↓Book rooms 6–12 months in advance for October — last-minute availability essentially zero
March trade-offs
- ↓Hotels booked months in advance — prices 3–4x normal rates during SXSW week
- ↓East 6th Street and downtown impassable at night without wristbands or extreme patience
- ↓SXSW runs on wristbands and badges; free events are real but require strategic planning
Scores compare months within Austin. Climate data: Open Meteo ERA5 30-year normals (1991–2020). Methodology →