Don’t light up during the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
A sign at the ACL Music Festival box office at Zilker Park
That’s the word from the city’s parks department, which has prohibited smoking in all city parks as part of a burn ban brought on by extreme drought. The ban, put in place in April, includes Zilker Park, site of this weekend’s three-day ACL Fest.
There’s not much officials can do, though, if you get caught with a cigarette in hand.
The smoking ban is a directive from Austin parks Director Sara Hensley — not a city ordinance — which means officers can’t issue citations for smoking alone, police Lt. Todd Smith said.
Park rangers will first ask people caught smoking to stop, said parks department spokesman Victor Ovalle. If they don’t, they’ll be asked to leave. Refuse to leave, and Austin police will get involved.
“At that point, officers would issue a trespassing citation,” Smith said. “We hope it wouldn’t get that far.
“We just want everyone to have a good time.”
Charcoal and wood grilling are prohibited in parks, as well.
City officials say recent wildfires that devastated parts of Bastrop County, Spicewood and Steiner Ranch have shown just how quickly fire can spread. That, they hope, will be on the minds of festival-goers.
“We have more people who are aware,” said Fire Department spokeswoman Michelle DeCrane. “The awareness is very high right now.”
DeCrane said Austin firefighters responded to 469 brush fires from January through July of this year and a quarter of them caused by cigarettes.
Smokers with three-day passes have the option of leaving the park grounds to light up, then re-entering the festival after passing through a security checkpoint, according to an ACL Fest spokeswoman.
Festival-goers with one-day passes can’t do that.
With signs posted around the park — inside and outside the gates — Ovalle says he doesn’t expect a problem with compliance.
“People know how bad it is right now,” he said. “It’s been all over the news.”
Cars parked on bone-dry grass are also a concern for parks officials, Ovalle said. The heat generated by a car’s underside can — and frequently does — start fires.
“The last thing anyone wants is a fire in our parks,” he said.
