The good news: It's almost the weekend! The bad news: Temps on Saturday are supposed to reach a sweltering 99 degrees. And while there's plenty you can do inside to hide from the heat—catch up on Game of Thrones, hit up one of Austin's museums—we've got a slightly more delicious solution: Eat all the ice cream.
The Austin Ice Cream Festival is back at Fiesta Gardens for its 11th year with over a dozen frozen treats to sample until the brain freeze hits. You'll find ice cream from Amy's Ice Creams, Austin Scoops, Cold Cookie Co., Dippin’ Dots, Moojo, NadaMoo! and Thai Fresh, plus other frozen delights from Casey's New Orleans Snow Balls, Snow Monster, Steel City Pops, GoodPop, Odd Pop and Shaved Ice Island. That's a lot of sugar, but we're not mad about it.
In between ice cream samples, festival goers can cleanse their palate with savory bites from Burro Cheese Kitchen, Shake Shack and Shawarma Point, among other food vendors.
But the fest isn't just for civilized folks who like to strategically lick their ice cream counter-clockwise to create a uniform swirl. There's also a half-gallon eating contest, a truly impressive (and stomach-churning) feat for the 18+ crowd. Other challenges, including a full pint contest and a no-hands ice cream sandwich face-off, will take place in the Main Pavilion, where spectators can see how well you can really keep down all that dairy. Live music, a rock climbing wall and an After Dark movie in the park are a few other activities at the festival to break up the ice cream gorging.
The Austin Ice Festival takes place on Saturday, August 12, starting at 10am at Fiesta Gardens. Tickets for the all-ages event are still available here, and range from $15-$44.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.