Creek Show - Waterloo Greenway Conservancy

Thank you to the 60,000 people that visited Creek Show!

We truly appreciate you all for coming out to support our 6th Annual Creek Show. It has been such a joy to see tens of thousands of people experiencing the magic of Waterloo Greenway and exploring the Red River Cultural District.

As the event grows in popularity, we continue to look for ways to make your experience even better. By taking our brief survey, you’ll be entered to win a Creek Show prize package filled with exclusive merch!

Take the Survey

Date: November 7, 2019 – November 17, 2019
Time: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM nightly
Location: 700 E. 9th Street
The exhibition is on Waller Creek between 9th St. and 12th St.

Downtown Austin will shine brighter this November at Waterloo Greenway’s 6th Annual Creek Show. Immerse yourself in this free, 11-night display of illuminating art created by teams of visionary local artists, ambitious landscape architects, and extraordinary designers.

On display between 9th and 12th Streets along a twinkling Waterloo Greenway, Creek Show is sure to leave visitors of all ages in awe as they stroll through six new stunning art installations.

Last year, this free community event delighted over 50,000 attendees. With live music performances each night, fun family activities, and oodles of photo-ops, Creek Show has grown to become one of Austin’s signature fall events — you don’t want to miss this!

Are you coming to Creek Show? Let us know!

RSVP

Invite your friends on Facebook and check out #CreekShow on Instagram for a glimpse at last year’s installations!

The Live Music Lineup

Location:
DPR Construction Stage
Symphony Square
1111 Red River Street
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM nightly

Creek Show will expand its concert series this year to include free live music every night on the DPR Construction Stage at the historic Symphony Square Amphitheater.

Nov. 8 – Levitation presents: Alex Maas from The Black Angels
Nov. 9 – Levitation presents: Money Chicha
Nov. 10 – Levitation presents: Annabelle Chairlegs
Nov. 11 – BBVA Music Sessions: Wilderado (band starts at 7:00 PM)
Nov. 12 – “Pride Night” feat. Grandma Stevens & DJ Hoyston
Nov. 13 – Sun June
Nov. 14 – Melat (7:30 PM) The Bishops (8:30 PM)
Nov. 15 – Cowboy Diplomacy
Nov. 16 – Tomar & the FCs
Nov. 17 – Big Wy’s Brass Band

Programs & Activities

H-E-B Family Zone
Designed by Austin Outdoor Design

12th Street and Red River Street

Kids of all ages will enjoy free, interactive activities from Thinkery, Mad Science, Austin Watershed Protection Department, Austin FC, and more! This area will also be home to a variety of local food trucks!

Check out our calendar for a full list of participating food and drink vendors!

Creek Monster Habitat
Presented by Texas Applied Arts at UT Austin’s College of Fine Arts

11th Street and Red River Street

The Creek Monster Habitat is an illuminated, interactive multisensory art installation designed and constructed by students from The University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts. This final stop of Creek Show is an audio-visual experience that takes visitors into the Creek Monster’s nest.

Read more about the Creek Monster Habitat here!

The Creek Show backYARD
Hosted by the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

Creek-level between 10th and 11th Streets

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin Hotel will feature The Mighty Cone food truck, illuminated lawn games, hot chocolate, coffee, and a selection of bites and specialty cocktails from the Sheraton Austin!

Plus, live music on select nights starting at 6:00 PM!

Nov. 7 – Prodigy Music Group
Nov. 8 – Elijah Zane and The Peacemakers
Nov. 9 – Hanna Barakat

Food & Drink

BBVA Creek Show Lounge

Stop by the BBVA Creek Show Lounge at Symphony Square to grab a cocktail in the Tito’s Handmade Vodka Bar, learn about Waterloo Greenway, explore the model of Waterloo Park, and take a photo in the Capital Metro photo booth! Guests can also grab a warm cup of coffee and pastry from our friends at Easy Tiger!

Deals in the District

Don’t forget to pick up a 2019 Creek Show wristband at the Creek Show Lounge or one of our creekside information tables! Wear your wristband at participating businesses along Waller Creek in the Red River Cultural District and Sixth Street Historic District to get deals on food, drinks, and entertainment.

Check out the full list of deals here!

Food Trucks

A variety of food and beverage vendors will be available at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol and H-E-B Family Zone.

Check out our calendar for a full list of participating food and drink vendors!

Aurora

by 1909B

Brooks Anderson
Bruno Canales
Matt Dorsey
Mitch Flora
James Holliday
Zach Lyons
Andrew Mitchell
John Powell
Will Powell
Nolan Thomas

Installation Sponsor:

Tyndall at Robertson Hill

Waterloo Greenway Creekshow Aurora Installation

Aurora is a matrix of identical luminaires suspended over Waller Creek. Each column of light is an autonomous element that is linked to the whole: individually responding to specific sounds and movements while simultaneously operating within a single procedurally generated sequence. With every flash of light or quiver of sound, the grid comes alive, an ever changing constellation that plays through the creek bed. In this manner, AURORA occupies the site and displays the capacity of a place to simultaneously shape, but also be shaped by its environment. Like Waller Creek itself, AURORA lies somewhere between order and chaos, infrastructure and nature, intention and accident.

Downstream Upcycle

by Design Workshop

Laura Bryant
Hongsheng (Neo) Geng
Alyson Hill
Claire Eddleman-Heath
Eric Leshinsky

Installation Sponsor:

Trousdale Ventures

Downstream Upcycle uses more than 17,000 hotel shampoo bottles and repurposes them into a colorful wave of glowing lanterns. Our interest in these bottles stems from the symbolism they carry for the rapidly growing tourism economy in Austin surrounding Waller Creek—roughly representing the amount used by downtown hotels within one day. The bottles have been filled with a UV-reactive dye to glow under black light and are attached to 100 recycled metal barrels sourced from the community.

By recontextualizing materials like this commonly entering local landfills, the installation highlights the challenges of current waste management practices and their impacts on Waller Creek. Words like watershed, downstream and upstream describe both the hydrologic system of our city and the cradle-to-grave movement of objects as they are made, acquired and discarded or repurposed. We hope that visitors leave with a visual understanding of the products we consume and the impact they have long after their use has ended.

Special thanks to the generosity of local hotels for collection: Sheraton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites and Hilton.

The
Ghost Boat

by Nelsen Partners

Lindsay Abati, AIA
Johanna Spencer, AIA
Daniela Valle

Installation Sponsor:

Powell Foundation

Once Upon A Time…
An Austinite, traveler of waters, got lost in the beauty of the creek and went missing.

To this day, nobody knows their whereabouts, but on a quiet misty morning, you can hear the sound of paddles dipping into the water and a ghostly glow in the distance.

To re-connect with the lost history of Waller Creek, we used our own folk tale to evoke the feeling of a bygone era and inspire contemplation of the role the creek has played in Austin’s past. We were inspired by themes that are integral to Austin’s identity; natural beauty, music and water. In collaboration with our fabrication partners, Mother Built, we wanted to inspire awe with the vision of glowing paddles rowing along the creek, unmanned and mysterious. In partnership with local musicians, guesthouse and SlowBurst, we developed a soundscape to help create an immersive experience for creek visitors.

Light House

by Norma + Sunny

Sunny Schneberger
Norma Yancey, AIA

Installation Sponsor:

Sugar Creek Foundation

Light House challenges the visitor’s notion of what a wall is. We break down the “wall” by physically changing it into something that is as minimal as possible: curtains of light. The entrance to the house is clearly marked with an opening that serves as a doorway. Once inside, doorways diminish and then disappear. Visitors are drawn into successive rooms by different colors and obscured views of visitors in other rooms. The only way forward is by moving through the walls. What if we saw other boundaries in our life in the same way? Obstacles that feel impassable become something we can move through.

m e a n d e r

by frankev

Frances Peterson
Kevin Sullivan

Installation Sponsor:

3M Foundation

m e a n d e r is envisioned as a fissure in a supernatural aquifer. Like water in underground caves, flows of visitors have symbolically eroded and carved a whimsical passageway. The installation is tactile and playful, encouraging people to walk through the dangling tendrils within the cave. Meander transforms a lifeless piece of infrastructure into a mystical and captivating experience. Creating a moment for discovery and wonderment, meander subtly reveals the invisible forces responsible for the natural features that all Austinites cherish.

String Theory

by Boka Powell

James Cornetet
Franco Palomo
Miren Urena

Installation Sponsor:

Waterloo Greenway Board of Directors 2019

String Theory explores the unity of light and water in a unique and colorful way. The piece continuously twists reflecting life’s unexpected journeys. Harmonious strings mimic the soft flow of Waller Creek as the water reflects the vibrant colors back. This interplay between light and water symbolizes life’s road: it is filled with dark spots, yet is illuminated with dazzling colors that create the kaleidoscope we call life. String Theory creates a unified and playful walkway for all to experience.

Special thanks to the selection committee: Meredith Bossin, Louis Grachos, Chris Mattsson, Carla Nickerson, Ingrid Spencer, Daniel Woodroffe, and Herlinda Zamora.

See what’s happening at Creek Show every night!

Join us for live music at Symphony Square every night and a series of family-friendly activations including the H-E-B Family Zone, the Creek Show Backyard at the Sheraton Austin, and the Creek Monster Habitat presented by the University of Texas at Austin: College of Fine Arts.

In the BBVA Creek Show Lounge, visitors can grab exclusive Creek Show merch, learn about Waterloo Greenway, and snap a photo in the CapMetro photo booth! Enjoy a cocktail at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka Bar and treat yourself to hot chocolate and baked goodies at the Easy Tiger Pop-Up Shop.

Wednesday, November 6th
Preview Party

6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
700 E. 9th Street
Beat the crowds and be the first to experience Creek Show 2019! This is a ticketed event. Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Thursday, November 7th
Opening Night

Due to expected wet weather, Melat’s concert will be rescheduled. We have also postponed activities in the H-E-B Family Zone and Creek Show backYARD until Friday, November 8.

Stay tuned for Melat’s rescheduled performance date!

Mobile Food Vendors:
Easy Tiger

Friday, November 8th

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Levitation presents: Alex Maas from The Black Angels

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery and MadScience

Mobile Food Vendors:
Four Brothers Venezuelan Food, Mission Dogs, Easy Tiger, and Fancy Fluff

Saturday, November 9th

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Levitation presents: Money Chicha

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery and MadScience

Mobile Food Vendors:
Four Brothers Venezuelan Food, Mission Dogs, Easy Tiger, and Fancy Fluff

Sunday, November 10th

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Levitation presents: Annabelle Chairlegs

Mobile Food Vendors:
F’real, and Easy Tiger

Monday, November 11th
BBVA Night

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
BBVA Music Sessions: Wilderado

Mobile Food Vendor:
Easy Tiger

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin is closed on Monday, November 11.

Tuesday, November 12th
Pride Night

The art installations and BBVA Creek Show Lounge will be open tonight from 6 PM – 10 PM.

The H-E-B Family Zone, Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin, and the DPR Construction Stage will be closed and reopen tomorrow, Nov. 13.

Wednesday, November 13th
Artist Talk

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Sun June

7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Artist Talk
Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

Learn about the inspirations and processes behind this year’s stunning Creek Show installations. The panel discussion will feature representatives from all six teams of visionary local artists, ambitious landscape architects, and extraordinary designers.

Registration required. Tickets are FREE with an optional donation to Waterloo Greenway. Complimentary refreshments are available.

Get Tickets

Mobile Food Vendors:
Four Brothers Venezuelan Food and Easy Tiger

Thursday, November 14th

Music:
7:30 PM: Melat
8:30 PM: The Bishops

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery, MadScience, and face painting

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

Mobile Food Vendors:
F’real, and Easy Tiger

Friday, November 15th

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Cowboy Diplomacy

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery, MadScience, and face painting

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

Mobile Food Vendors:
Stony’s Pizza, F’real, Easy Tiger, and Fancy Fluff

Saturday, November 16th

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Tomar & the FCs

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery, MadScience, and face painting

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

Mobile Food Vendors:
Four Brothers Venezuelan, Mission Dogs, Easy Tiger, and Fancy Fluff

Sunday, November 17th
Closing Night

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Music: Big Wy’s Brass Band

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H-E-B Family Zone:
Thinkery, MadScience, and face painting

Mobile Food Vendors:
Four Brothers Venezuelan, Burro, and Easy Tiger

The Creek Show backYARD at the Sheraton Austin is closed on Sunday, November 17.

What is Creek Show?

Presented by Waterloo Greenway, Creek Show is an outreach program designed to surprise and delight audiences with outstanding light-based art installations that celebrate, support, and educate the community on the importance and impact transforming Waller Creek will have on Austin’s social, cultural, and ecological future. Launched in 2014 as a one-night event, Creek Show has grown in popularity each year with over 50,000 attendees in 2018!

Where is Creek Show?

Start your art walk at 9th St. & Red River St. Music and other activities located at and around Symphony Square, 1111 Red River St.

When is Creek Show?

Thursday, November 7 – Sunday, November 17, 2019 from 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM.

How much does it cost to attend?

Creek Show is FREE and open to the public!

How do I get to Creek Show?

Walking, biking, rideshare, and public transportation are strongly encouraged! Limited paid street and garage parking are available around the district.

Can I volunteer at Creek Show?

Yes! The event brings tens of thousands of guests to Waterloo Greenway each year, and we couldn’t do it without a dedicated team of volunteers! Sign up to volunteer here!

Will there be food and beverages at Creek Show?

A variety of food and beverage vendors will be available at Creek Show. We also encourage you to visit the great bars and restaurants in the neighborhood.

What activities and programs will I find at Creek Show?

In addition to the art installations, the event includes the Creek Show Lounge with a variety of family-friendly programming, live music every night, a photo booth, and exclusive access to deals at participating businesses along Waterloo Greenway in the Red River Cultural District and Sixth Street Historic District!

Are strollers allowed inside of Creek Show?

Attendees are welcome to bring strollers to Creek Show. Please note, the pedestrian trails around the creek do have limited space and accessibility at times.

Is the event ADA-Accessible?

Parts of the area where the artwork is located may be navigable for individuals with mobility challenges, but it is not up to ADA standards currently. The entrance is at grade and there is a ramped exit that will allow for viewing some, but not all, of the installations. Our future plans for Waterloo Greenway parks and trails include ADA accessibility along the length of the creek. The Family Zone and Symphony Square, where the music is located, are both accessible.

Is Creek Show dog-friendly?

Friendly, leashed dogs are welcome in all outdoor areas of Creek Show. Only service animals will be allowed inside buildings.

Creek Show Rules

Have fun and enjoy the wonder of Creek Show and Waterloo Greenway!
Creek Show hours are 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM each night. Hours strictly enforced, unless otherwise noted.
For safety reasons, individuals are prohibited from entering or swimming in the creek. Plants and animals are protected – do not remove or disturb.
Creek Show is a drug- and smoke-free event. All Waterloo Greenway facilities and Austin Parks and Recreation Department parks are drug- and smoke-free environments per city ordinance.
Unauthorized possession of weapons is prohibited at Creek Show.
No outside alcoholic beverages or glass containers are allowed at Creek Show.
Selling, exhibiting, or promoting food, beverages, merchandise, or services at Creek Show is prohibited. If your business or organization is interested in being a vendor or sponsor at Creek Show, please reach out to Waterloo Greenway’s Programming & Events Manager, Donald Miller at dmiller@waterloogreenway.org.
Conducting commercial photography or videography is prohibited at Creek Show. If you are interested in capturing commercial photography or videography, please reach out to Waterloo Greenway’s Programming & Events Manager, Donald Miller at dmiller@waterloogreenway.org.

Creek Show 2019