Amid all the noise, loud performances and screaming crowds at Austin City Limits Music Festival, one part of the festival is surprisingly quiet. Inside the Tito’s venue, several festival attendees can be seen vibing and dancing, sporting colorful headphones and jumping to a song only others wearing headphones can hear.
The Silent Disco takes place every night of ACL from 8 to 10. Attendees pick up a pair of headphones and choose between three channels of music tied to three colors: blue, red and green.
“(The) night’s coming to an end,” ACL attendee Adlai Ha said. “Why not give it a shot?” To be honest, I wasn’t totally a fan of going to Rüfüs Du Sol just because I’m a bass head. I like my heavy music, so, (I) just came here; just wanted to vibe it out a little bit.”
The Silent Disco also provides a space in the festival for people who may not deal well with large crowds. They’re able to party hard while also maintaining a sense of leveled calm, which is especially convenient for attendees with their families or kids.
“A lot of different people here … a lot of different ages,” Ha said. “We’ve got full-grown adults in here and middle schoolers; everybody’s in here, everybody’s welcome.”
Even though there is no actual live music being played, the venue’s atmosphere is not as packed or crowded, which ends up allowing for more movement and more dance, heightening the communal experience that is one of the best aspects of attending a music festival.
“This is almost more of a club-type experience,” attendee Tyler Moffett said. “None of this stuff is live, but it’s songs that pretty much everyone here knows and can choose between. I think you see a lot more energy, which is interesting to see. The headliners out there, you’ll find areas and pockets of people that are really big fans, but by and large, you’ve got a lot of people that are just standing around listening.”
One of the event’s highlights is seeing people cheer the same lyrics, and because no sound comes from any speaker, the only audible singing comes from attendees, fueling the event with high energy.
“Because everyone’s in their own world a little bit, maybe they’re a little less scared to express themselves,” attendee Ethan Hill said.
Although the Silent Disco may not have the raw intensity of other events at the festival, it ultimately ends up being a more intimate and collective experience that ACL attendees should try to seek out at least once in their time at the festival.
“Oh man, do it,” Ha said. “(You) only live once. You’re gonna have the time of your life.”
