Heading to Austin? Look for these cool cows now grazing at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The cows are part of Cow Parade Austin , a popular public art event that places artist-decorated cows in cities around the world.
Some of the cows end up as permanent parts of the landscape while others are auctioned off to raise funds for local charities.
In Austin, the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world, you can’t spit without hitting a Grammy winner.
So it makes sense that even the kids in town make music you’d like to hear.
That’s the idea behind Kid Band Week, underway now at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
On Wednesday, July 20th, check out blues rock guitarist Carson Brock, who’s been playing since he was four.
On Thursday, July 21st, The Aviators make a return visit to the airport. The rock group, which had its first gig at the airport during Kid Bank Week 2008, is made up of six students, ages 11 to 16 from the Natural Ear Music School.
And on Friday, July 22 the Rian C band takes the stage. Fifteen year old Rian Castillo plays guitar, piano, and lead vocals with his twin Riley on drums, and 13 year old Brandon Vizcarra on bass guitar. The group plays a variety of country, rock, Spanish and alternative music.
All shows take place from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the post-security performance stage located near Gate 10 in Ray Benson’s Roadhouse.
Back in 2000, Austin was a very high-tech place and the Austin Bergstrom International Airport was perhaps the first airport to have Wi-Fi available in the terminal.
The service wasn’t free, but least it was there.
Now, of course, pretty much every airport is wired and, increasingly, the service is offered for free.
For some reason, Austin’s airport has been a free Wi-Fi holdout.
Not anymore: the Austin airport has worked out a deal with Boingo Wireless to offer complimentary Wi-Fi service. But it’s a hybrid system:
Travelers will only get one complimentary Wi-Fi session each 24 hours, so if you’re doing more than just sending a quick email, you’ll have to pony up and pay for additional, more robust, service.
There are however, some free internet access kiosks at Gates 5, 8, 11, 15, 21 and in baggage claim.
Paid options include: $4.95 for one hour, $7.95 for a day pass, or $9.95 for a month of unlimited access at all of Boingo’s North and South America hotspot locations. If you’re working on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, you can buy one-hour Boingo credits for $1.99 at the iTunes Store.
And if you do find yourself stuck at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, there are plenty of reasons not to spend all your time on the computer.
Austin’s airport has a great deal of art and an ambitious Music in the Air concert series that includes close to a dozen live in-terminal concerts a week.
The SXSW music and film extravaganza is taking place all over Austin right now – and that includes out at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The airport’s regular live music series takes place on a center stage (Ray Benson’s Roadhouse) and four other venues inside the terminal: The Saxon, Lefty’s, Earl Campbell’s Sports Bar and Austin City Limits/Waterloo Records & Video. Usually there are 13 shows a week, but through March 21, in honor of SXSW, the schedule expands to a total of 23 performances.
All free. All great. And all post-security.
Here’s a link to the full schedule of SXSW performances at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, including the final SXSW-related event, which will take place Monday, March 21 with Austin Jazz original Elias Haslanger (1-3 p.m) and Ty Mayfield (3:30-5:30 p.m).
Enjoy!
If you find yourself at an airport on Valentine’s Day, buy yourself and your sweetie some chocolate. And some flowers.
On Monday, these airports are among those that will be offering a little extra love:
The Food & Shops in the Central Terminal Building at New York’s LaGuardia Airport will be handing out free chocolate kisses.
Volunteers at Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport will be handing out carnations;
At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Amy’s Ice-Cream has a pop-up kiosk in the baggage claim area selling chocolate-covered strawberries (2/12 -2/14);
And passengers on Southwest Airlines can celebrate the day with a complimentary adult beverage on all flights.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is celebrating the Chinese New Year with live performances ranging from ancient to Pop Chinese music styles. Local Asian musicians will perform on the airport’s main stage between 11 a.m. and noon on Thursday, February 3, 2011.
Singapore’s Changi airport is also celebrating the Chinese New Year with free samples of ting tang and dragon beard candy, opera mask paining, Chinese paper cutting, New Year fortune-telling and New Year decorations that include pussy willows, pots of tangerines, cherry blossoms, gold bunny sculptures and giant bunny topiaries.
A few fresh amenities you can enjoy at some airports – and on some Amtrak trains.
At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, celebrity chef Rick Bayless has opened Tortas Frontera, in Terminal 1. The menu includes Mexican sandwiches, tortas, a guacamole bar and a wide variety of other tasty dishes. (Another branch will open soon in Terminal 3).
Today Amtrak announced that there’s now free Wi-Fi on the Cascades route between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, B.C.
And with the opening of a branch of the Saxon Pub (an iconic music venue in Austin), there are now five venues that offer live music at Austin Bergstrom International Airport for a total of 13 shows each week.
Saxon Pub ribbon cutting ceremony, photo by Carlton Wade
Earlier this week I posted a picture of the cute sculpture in one of the pet relief areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
ATL pet relief area
And the smart park at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
PHX pet relief area
Both are pretty doggone cute. But the folks at Reno-Tahoe International Airport felt left out – so they sent me a note about the spot they’ve set aside for Spot.
RNO airport pet relief area
It’s hard to tell how cute the park is -but I love the name: Bark Park.
And here’s the park for pets at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Austin-Bergstrom Airport dog park
Have you and your pet found an airport pet relief area that’s fancy AND functional? Let us know and we’ll try to sniff out a photo and post it here.
Stuck at the airport? Look around. You may find an art exhibit right around the corner.
A new exhibit at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport- Fiber Art Unraveled: Material and Process – features work by 19 Arizona artists.
Here are a few samples:
Nick Georgiou’s Green Reindeer is made from newspapers and discarded books;
Clare Verstegen’s Compass is made with screen-printed wool, felt and birch plywood;
And Carol Eckert’s, The Raven Addresses the Animals is made with cotton embroidery thread and wire.
Fiber Art Unraveled: Material and Process will be on display until September 21, 2011 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Terminal 4, Level 3 in eight display cases outside the security checkpoints.
At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), the newest exhibit shows off beads and beadwork from members of the Austin Bead Society (ABS) and includes vintage African trading beads, handmade jewelry and the work of 20 Austin artists, including this polymer clay face framed with bead embroidery by Laura Zeiner.
The beadwork exhibit at Austin Bergstrom International Airport will be on display through October 18, 2010 in the airport concourse showcases, post-security, across from gates 7-11.
Have you seen some great art while you were stuck at the airport?
Stop by any weekday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and chances are you’ll hear some really great local music. Austin is just chock full of great musicians (“You can’t spit without hitting a Grammy winner” is how someone once explained it to me) and the airport takes advantage of that with four post-security performance spaces and eleven live performances each week.
Next week, from Monday, July 19th through Friday, July 23rd, it’s “Kid Band Week,” with performances scheduled from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the airport’s Asleep at the Wheel stage at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse by Gate 10. If you’re around, you should definitely check it out.
Here’s the line-up:
Monday: The Peterson Brothers Band: blue music from brothers Glenn (13) and Alex (11).
Hide Away (By Freddie King) Live @ Momo’s
Peterson Brothers Band
Tuesday: 15-year-old bassist and vocalist Livvy Bennett.
“Bennett is a member of Aftermath, an Austin band that won the first SchoolJam USA National Teen ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest January in Anaheim, Calif. At the event, Bennett was named “Best Bassist.”
Wednesday: The Aviators. The classic rock group is made up of six students, age ten to thirteen, from the Natural Ear Music School.
Introducing the Aviators!
The Aviators
Thursday: The Apple Trio, an all-girl string trio.
And Friday: The Fireants, the group that won “Best Teen Band” at the 2008-2009 Austin Music Awards.