Austin Aqua Festival

The Austin Aqua Festival (usually called Aqua Fest) was a ten-day festival held the first week of August on the shores of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake) in Austin, Texas from 1962 until 1998.

The Austin Aqua Festival was created in 1962 to promote Austin and the Texas Highland Lakes as a top vacation area and to boost the local economy in what was normally a slow period. The first Aqua Fest occurred Aug. 3-12, 1962. Art Linkletter was the headliner for the event.

The festival offered many water related events such as a 150-mile canoe race, fishing contests, a sailing regatta and an illuminated night time parade on the lake. There were many land based events also including the Miss Austin Aqua Beauty contest, a twilight land parade, a daytime military parade, a rodeo, golf tournament, concerts, dances and fireworks.

Patrons of the fest could purchase a book of discount tickets to get into the various venues. The tickets were called Skipper Script. The next year, the script gave way to the Skipper Pin, which was purchased and pinned on the goers clothing, letting the workers know that the wearer was eligible for discounts on tickets.

The central location for many of the events was "Festival Beach," a small park on Town Lake between the city-owned power plant and a residential neighborhood. The city had originally created Town Lake as a cooling pond for the power plant.

In 1964, the festival added one of its most popular and controversial events, drag boat racing on Town Lake. It also added a water skiing championship, kite flying championship and an Austin Grand Prix - sports car racing on city streets.

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