How to ATX Fest

Officially a month ago, my sister and I attended ATX Festival, a television festival in Austin, Texas. We initially found out about the festival last summer when two of our favorite humans, Kurt Sutter and Katey Sagal, participated in a panel on the processes of creating and acting in a series and posted about it on Instagram (the panel is hilarious by the way and a video can be found here if anyone is interested). Videos of the panels and events were uploaded onto Youtube and we probably watched about 8 of them. Needless to say, we knew we wanted to go to the next one. Tickets for Season 6 (this year's festival) were available but they were a little pricey and since no panels had been announced yet, we decided to wait a while. Eventually, on Black Friday, discounted tickets became available, and we decided to just take a chance on what the featured panels and events would be. We were just so excited to be going!

Over the course of the next few months, the panels and events were announced and I was checking every day for updates. A mobile app became available in which one could select different events and put them onto a schedule in order to avoid any scheduling conflicts. My sister and I spent three hours on the phone that night reading the descriptions of each panel and panelist to each other and deciding which ones we wanted to attend. In preparation, I started watching shows that I knew were hosting panels. I caught up on the HBO series The Leftovers in about two weeks, and watched the final season as it aired (fantastic show, somewhat disappointing ending but I'll allow it). Eventually, it was announced that there was going to be a Sons of Anarchy panel, and that Kurt Sutter would be in attendance. Ecstatic isn't the word. His writing has just impacted me monumentally. I literally got choked up reading his name on the ATX Facebook page.

Eventually June 7th came, and my sister and I hopped on a plane and headed from Philly down to Austin, Texas. Over the next week we learned how to do Austin and ATX Festival the right way.

1. Talk to as many people as you can

Guests, panelists, volunteers, everyone is super friendly and open to meeting people. We went right up to people and told them we were huge fans of theirs. Side story: I took a selfie with Paris Barclay which I would show to you here but he looked bad in the picture and I couldn't tell him that but I couldn't say that I looked bad cause I didn't want him to think I was conceited so bottom line I just have a terrible picture of myself and a two time Emmy winning director whom I adore. Anyway, we talked to other guests while we were waiting in line, we friended people on Facebook, I even stumbled drunk from the hotel bar right into one of the women who co-founded the festival and I had to stop to tell her that her dress was pretty (I'm usually pretty friendly, but when I'm drunk forget about it). She asked her friend who was with her to take a picture of us, and said "Y'all are my favorite people this weekend". Definitely a success.

2. Eat, Drink, and Eat More!

Having never before been to Texas, I did not realize that it would be a food experience. They eat tacos for breakfast down there, and I am ashamed of myself that that had never occurred to me. Tacos with eggs and bacon in them are amazing. 10/10 recommend. MTV hosted a breakfast with free Colombian food to promote the new season of The Challenge, and it was potentially the best food we ate all week. Needless to say, the coffee was bomb. They take barbecue really seriously in Texas so we went to Stubbs BBQ which was right across the street from our hotel and got ribs and pulled pork. It wasn't expensive and we got a ton of food. Everywhere we went, I drank the strongest/best margaritas I've ever had.

3. Go to events/screenings/panels for shows you know nothing about

A few times during the festival, we had an open time slot and just picked something and went to it. These turned out to be my favorite events of the whole festival. The first night we went to the screening of FX's new series Snowfall, which premiered last Wednesday night. We also went to the screening of the new Freeform series The Bold Type, and I'm not usually into Freeform shows but it was so good and politically relevant and feminist that I can't wait for it to premiere on Tuesday and watch it again.

4. Get some local culture

Since it was our first time in Texas, my sister and I wanted to try new things and see the sights in Austin. We hung out in an area called South Congress which had cool thrift stores and we bought some souvenirs. We went to a place called Rainey Street which was just a few blocks of cool trendy bars and food trucks. It seemed like the Austin equivalent of Philly's Fishtown, lots of hipsters and cool places to drink on patios. We went to one bar where all the drink were served in huge mason jars and called common white girl names like Ashley and Emily. I'm also not usually a country music fan, but since Austin is such a huge music city I really wanted to see a country band so we went to a dive bar in South Congress and saw a band called Dale Watson and the Lonestars. They were definitely on the Johnny Cash side of country which I'll admit is easier for me to get into but I legitimately had a good time, even though I was a little apprehensive at first.

5. Don't let anything stop you from having a good time

Sometimes things come up and certain guests have to cancel or things happen that we don't anticipate. The day before I was supposed to see him in Austin, Kurt Sutter had to cancel his appearance. My heart broke for about 40 seconds, but then I remembered what a great time I had been having and just decided to enjoy what time I had left. Just like anything in life, sometimes it doesn't go the way you thought it would, but you make the best of it, and keep having fun. I still had an awesome weekend. I met awesome people who are so incredibly successful in the business I want to be in someday, and I learned so much from them. Kurt ended up Facetiming in to the panel which was pretty cool, so I did get to see him, just not in person. I can't wait to go back again next year.