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Swimming in a sea of Latinismo during the now annual Besame Mucho festival at Circuit of the Americas in February, I fired off a telepathic salvo to Aterciopelados. Enanitos Verdes spanned decades of alt-roc, Molotov bounced decades of rap-roc, and Cafe Tacuba pulsed decades of roc en español. Yet where were Julieta Venegas, Juana Molina, and Ely Guerra? Argentina’s answer to Stereolab finally beams principals Andrea Echeverri y Héctor Buitrago back here. Pandemic mitigation Tropiplop preserves Echeverri’s androgynous intonation, an inscrutable tenor blipping with feminine quips – never artificial or anything other than intrinsic. Colombian brass mob Superfónicos opens, so gracias a Dios Mohawk’s got no roof. – Raoul Hernandez

Launched in 2022 by drummer and Technicolor Booking lead Genesis Vasquez, ATX Queer Music Fest returns with continuously impressive genre diversity. At this week’s free showcase, offerings include Thelonious Love, who spits cheeky bars about petty exes and his unmatched grind over bouncy bass; MVVN, whose breezy indie-pop recalls Aughts-era dance rock; and Vasquez’s own Female Gallery, pairing classic post-punk basslines with psychedelic guitar riffs. Bluegrass picker Montana Sand, Puerto Rican rapper Stephy Lee, alt-soul quintet Telefaze, plus Lavender Scare, Tommietee, and Calmer Seas, round out the bill. Taste – err, hear – the rainbow. – Carys Anderson

The Boot ranch outside of Gonzales kicks off its first Cattle Country Music Festival with a stacked lineup anchored by Texas stars. Koe Wetzel leads Friday with his country and alternative rock blend, setting up a Saturday with new Country Music HOFer Tanya Tucker preambling red-dirt superstars Whiskey Myers and the Randy Rogers Band. Sunday aptly delivers Eric Church, along with Austin’s Yellowstone breakout Shane Smith & the Saints. The downcard runs deep though, including Colbie Caillat, the War & Treaty, and William Beckmann (Saturday) plus William Clark Green, Hailey Whitters, and Tanner Usrey (Sunday). Come and take it. – Doug Freeman

It’s time to spin right ’round, baby, right ’round, with this two-day Sky Candy workshop. Join in to learn the ups, downs, and every-which-ways of the cyr wheel. Ever wanted to feel like a human top? Or pictured yourself spinning around in a giant hula hoop? Make it a reality with expert instruction from aerial expert Jamiza Dar. Registration requires height disclosures, since provided wheels work best for those 4’11” to 5’10”. Join in for a truly 360 athletic experience. – Cat McCarrey

Pease Park’s annual celebration of spring returns courtesy of Pease Park Conservancy and the cool folks of Future Front. Indeed, the artist-focused community org will present several open-sky all-ages creative workshops – and all for free. Work with artist Tanya Zal on making clay mushrooms; create seed balls with “drag fairy” Gothess Jasmine; paint nature pieces with artist Kayla Kennedy; make friendship bracelets; and join Where’d the Wild Things Go for Austin bird bingo. Plus: family-friendly DJ sets by locals SuperMcN4sty and Knstalgia, yoga, puppet shows, and face painting, followed by a screening of DreamWorks’ Trolls. No need to be squirrelly when you’ve got so many fun fest activities to do. – James Scott & Madeline Duncan

George Harrison wasn’t just a musician: He was also an enormous film fan, so much so that he established one of the most exciting, innovative, devious, and artistically diverse British film studios of the 1980s. Join Austin writer Kristen O’Brien, daughter of co-founder Denis O’Brien, for a weekend of four of the studio’s best: crime classics Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday, twisted kids’ delight Time Bandits, and wicked sex comedy The Missionary. – Richard Whittaker

Who’s ready for a bedtime story? Because there’s nothing like Stephen Sondheim’s grand unification theory of the Brothers Grimm’s collection of German fairy tales. All your childhood folklore favorites become tangled up in the search for the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. Underneath the toe-tappers and cunning one-liners, there’s a fable about the perils of getting what you wished for and not paying attention to what you have, a moral reiterated by a witch who’s not good, not nice; just right. – Richard Whittaker

Before it was an exhibition, Freedom House was a workshop KB Brookins ran based around the question “What would it look like if art was an integral part of our social justice, our movement work?” as they say in a December 2022 Chronicle interview. They’ve since developed the idea into a poetry book of the same name, and now bring an even more physicalized concept to the Prizer gallery space. This multimedia installation is “equipped with poems, film, furniture, and collages that simulate what freedom – embodied in everyone’s most delicate and personal place – looks, feels, and sounds like.” This house has many rooms to explore, so it’s a good thing you’ll have until May 11 to walk through them all. – James Scott

Zilker Brewing Co. celebrates nine years of busting barley with jam-packed festivities including local eats and a near-endless array of ales. Twangy country collective the Lonesome Heroes will put a Southern spin on Friday’s festivities with their honky-tonk ballads. Saturday expects a slew of live talent including psychedelic threepiece DAYEATER, vibrant genre-fusing sisters the Tiarras, and New Age art-rockers the Cuckoos. Soul-rock wordsmith Chief Cleopatra joins the lineup, along with the funk-fueled sonic improv deconstructions of Butter & Jam. Spend Sunday with the family and your choice of activities including arcade games, face painting, and balloon art. – Miranda Garza

Feel like getting out in nature and enjoying spring before it turns into an unbearably hot summer? Just about an hour away lies 1,200 acres of ecologically sensitive land packed to the brim with gorgeous scenery and protected wildlife, and the Hill Country Conservancy invites you to come explore on this open weekend. They’ll have some reps on hand to answer questions, but this will be a self-guided experience you can do at your own pace over a couple of hours, and entry times will be staggered to ensure a peaceful experience for one and all. – Kat McNevins

Wherefore art thou, bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s iconic play about rivalry, young love, and sword fights? The romance is closer than you think: Writers KJ Sanchez and Karen Zacaría along with director Anna Skidis Vargas bring this timeless work into a new context, right on UT-Austin’s campus. The tale that pits Montague against Capulet settles in fair Alta, California, circa 1840. “Set in the limbo between Mexican rule and new statehood,” the event description reads, “this retelling shifts between English and Spanish, bringing new life to a well-loved tale of love, bloodshed, family and fate.” Now there’s an idea you won’t bite your thumb at. – James Scott

April is really her month: Ms. Mother Earth, honored at this sustainable-style-focused fest created by eco-conscious mag SUSTAIN founder/Editor-in-Chief Reza Cristián, multidisciplinary artist & curator Leah Bury, and artists/Mutiny Market pop-up-trepreneurs Mikaela Friedman and Courtney Keville. These sustainability sirens bring to life a spring fashion show full of slow-fashion designers: UglyFlex, Faire Sauvage, Dear Ivy, YvieStyleIt, and many more. Maybe you caught the preview at South by Southwest, but nothing beats the full show. Isn’t that what Mother would want? – James Scott

More than a simple weekend fest, this smorgasbord of live ensembles lays out your April calendar with 10 days of free, family-friendly music at one beloved Austin patio: outside the Central Market on North Lamar. Presented by the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble since 2006, this event’s ethos is all in the no-stone-unturned names: Try Armadillo Swing Band, ACC Jazz Ensemble I, Girl Scout Harp Ensemble, Austin Banjo Club, Kat’s Porch Jam, the Skylarks, or Blowcomotion. Friday kicks off the 17th edition with a night of Austin blues under singer-songwriter Woot Talley’s band and the horn-fueled Rhythm Congress. – Rachel Rascoe

For generations of children, Arnold Lobel’s stories of amphibian best buds Frog and Toad have been a charming guide to the complexities and joys of friendship. Now the pair take to the stage for this delightful Tony-nominated musical. It’s truly a family affair, adapted by Lobel’s son-in-law Mark Linn-Baker with music by Robert Reale and book & lyrics by his brother, Willie. This new production, directed by Best of Austin winner Sara Burke, features Jillian Sainz and Victoria Brown donning the signature jackets and trousers of Frog and Toad, respectively. – Richard Whittaker

The first night on a giant floating casino/discotheque just off Manhattan: What can possibly go wrong? Well, since this is the 1970s, the decade of the disaster movie, how about earthquakes, tidal waves, rats, explosions, and deadly slot machine handles? Jack Plotnick and Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway jukebox musical features toe-tappers from the decade of AOR and disco, so there’s no better place to be for a night of mayhem and Chuck Mangione. Just watch out for the sharks … – Richard Whittaker

Alejandra Almuelle has been responsible for some of the most compelling works of clay sculpture ever created in this city, many of them predicated on the human body and its potential as a record of experience. This latest exhibition of her artistry, a solo show at Women & Their Work, brings the human form front and center, clayborne with additions of graphite, beeswax, paper, resin, and gold and silver leaf. Adorned, embellished, emboldened, the flesh created from clay comes full circle, a cycle of memory and magic powered by beauty, the viewing of it an experience we recommend recording via your own wonder-hungry rods and cones. – Wayne Alan Brenner

A special program for visitors ages 0-3 and their families, providing caregivers and early learners the chance to experience the children's museum together. Thinkery will host two storytimes and free play that support the social, emotional, and cognitive development of the earliest learners.

When a fellow is named Tim McCool, you’ve got to hope he lives up to the moniker. We reckon that, as co-founder (with his dauntless spouse, Kira) of the right-there-in-the-garage Good Luck Have Fun Gallery off Enfield, this particular art-scene mover and shaker is as McCool as it gets. Evidence: The gallery’s newest show brings together the colorful and provocative work of four women artists – Aubree Dale, Aria Brownell, Wendy Rhode, and Barbara Miñarro – “who explore the relationships between individual identity and the collective, the process of making art and of making one’s self.” – Wayne Alan Brenner