Get Ready for the 11th Annual Austin Ice Cream Festival

You get used to the Texas heat when you’ve lived in it your whole life, or at least stayed long enough to accept that summer comes, and you’ll always need something to bear with the sun. That is where ice cream, shaved ice, and all things frozen at the 11th Annual Austin Ice Cream Festival come in.

More than 7,500 attendees are expected to head to Fiesta Gardens to cool off with frozen treats at the festival on Saturday, Aug. 12, from 11am-10pm.

The ice cream celebration will feature an array of activities throughout the day, including frozen treat sampling from local and national brands, bites from local food trucks, and adult beverages. Numerous contests and activities will also be held, such as ice cream eating and frozen treat making competitions, an inflatable obstacle course, lawn games, a dunk tank, rock wall, canoe and paddle board rentals, and much more.

The ice cream competition will include two different voting pools – the general public for Best of ATX Frozen Treat “Fan Favorite” and a list of selected judges for Best of ATX Frozen Treat “Professional” and “Homemade" categories.

Judges for the “Professional” and “Homemade” categories are set to include Doug Lyon, Austin Ice Cream Festival founder; Stacy Franklin, co-owner of Franklin Barbecue; Trevor Scott, the host of CBS's “We Are Austin”; Eric Silverstein, executive chef and owner of Peached Tortilla; Kathy Valentine, musician/songwriter and member of the band the Go-Go’s; Brandon Watson, food editor at the Austin Chronicle; and Dawn Weston, advertising director and event coordinator at Edible Austin.

The general public will be able to vote for the “Fan Favorite” ice cream through the Austin Ice Cream Festival mobile app, from Aug. 5-12, and on-site at the festival.

For $15, guests can purchase general admission tickets to sample from three of the 18 frozen treat-sampling stations. Early entry tickets that include access to an air-conditioned area and extra sampling tickets will also be available for $25, as well as separate additional sampling tickets for purchase. In line with the family-friendly atmosphere, children 8 and under will receive free admission.

If the ice cream competitions and various activities weren’t already enough, this year’s frozen treat extravaganza will also include two live music stages for both adults and kids, with music presented by KUTX.

Participating samplers and vendors will include ice cream from H-E-B Creamy Creations, Central Market Small Batch Craft Ice Cream, Swoon by H-E-B, Amy's Ice Creams, Austin Scoops, Thai Fresh, Dippin' Dots, Moojo, NadaMoo!, and Cold Cookie Company. Frozen treat samplers will be available from Shaved Ice Island, Snow Monster, GoodPop, Steel City Pops, Casey's New Orleans Snowballs, and Odd Pop. The savory food vendors are the Evil Wiener, Burro Cheese Kitchen, DFG Noodles, Shake Shack, and Shawarma Point.

For more information and tickets, visit the Austin Ice Cream Festival website.