AUSTIN, Texas — Friday kicked off the first day of Austin’s Free Week in the Red River Cultural District downtown, but the event almost didn’t happen this year.
Thanks to a new $150,000 contract with the City of Austin, the music was able to keep going for another year.
“We’re just really grateful that we’re here today and able to make this happen,” said Nicole Klepadlo, the interim executive director for the Red River Cultural District.
Free Week started back in 2003 as a way to get local businesses and musicians more revenue during a difficult time of the year for them.
“It’s a really slow time, for not only businesses but music venues,” Klepadlo said. “Folks are not touring yet, and musicians really need money in their pocket.”
The event has traditionally been, as the name suggests, a full week full of free live music performances at local venues in the Red River Cultural District. But Klepadlo said with all the growth and changes in Austin over the last several years, funding has been tight recently.
“We really didn’t know if Free Week for us was going to be a possibility,” Klepadlo said.
The Red River Cultural District said they were brainstorming several different ways to make the event happen, such as moving down to just one day of free music, or not including as many businesses.
But most importantly, they wanted to make sure the event wouldn’t hurt musicians if they found a way for it to continue.
“What’s important to us is that we retain the integrity of musician pay and that musicians are getting paid for these performances,” Klepadlo said. “Musicians need regular streams of paid opportunities to perform and support from venues and nonprofits like ourselves.”
The $150,000 contract that the City of Austin presented back in November will last for at least four years. In addition to help fund their live music festivals like Free Week in January and Hot Summer Nights in July, the money will also go toward an economic analysis of the district and a study of the historical significance of it.
Currently, they are looking for proposals for the historic study of the Red River Cultural District. They’ve extended that deadline until Jan. 10, at which point they will then review the proposals and choose a team to start working on the project hopefully sometime in February.
“Austin is continuing to grow, we are seeing businesses close, we’re seeing venues close, we really want to capture the historical essence of what made the live music capital of the world, Austin, and why it’s here,” Klepadlo said.
The hope is to have some of the project completed by July, so they can present it during the Hot Summer Nights festival.
Free Week 2025 has 12 venues offering live music Friday and Saturday night. The shows have a range of music styles and go from about 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. each night. You can find the full Free Week schedule on the Red River Cultural District’s website.