Food vendors arrive early early early at ACL, and they work all day, serving tens of thousands of guests! Kiera and I snuck behind the scenes at the festival to get a peek at what’s happening in the food prep area…and it’s crazy much is going one back there!

I recently wrote a blog post about my favorite eats at ACL Fest (I attended ACL Weekend 1 this year), and Mighty Cone was high on the list. I love a good cone at ACL Fest!

A Few Quick Facts:

> Food vendors are open for 63 hours between the two weekends at ACL…. that’s a lot of food to serve! 

> Mighty Cone will sell about 30,000 cones during ACL Weekend 1 and 2.

> Food vendors share bites with other food vendors! So if you’re working at the Mighty Cone booth, you might be able to snag some Chi’Lantro for lunch. 😉

> Mighty Cone was created for ACL Fest back in 2002….I’ve shared this before, but I think it’s just such an interesting tidbit! Now they’re a super successful food truck business in Austin year-round.

> Mighty Cone ran out of their chicken cone for a few hot seconds during ACL Weekend One. It’s just such a popular food item!

The Mighty Cone booth at ACL Fest is a well-oiled machine. There’s a quick assembly line to get the chicken down from the refrigerated truck, battered, fried (in one of the many deep fryers!), put in a tortilla, covered with mango-jalapeño slaw, and drizzled in their famous ancho sauce, and handed to a hungry festival-goer. s

While Kiera and I were chatting with Stephen, the owner of Mighty Cones, I was honestly just trying to stay out of everyone’s way! It’s a mad house back there, and I even stopped by at the quietest time in the day. (Tip: if you want to avoid long lines, stop at the ACL Eats booths  between 2:30-5:00 pm).

** Photos by Kiera Jane of France Photographers 

I love ACL fest so much! I’m legitimately sad that I’m not going this weekend, haha! My sister and I were texting today about how bummed we are that it’s all over… We had been talking about it for months! I’ve been going for 5 years now, and every time is wonderful.

Austin is the live music capital of the world, and ACL fest captures it perfectly. I think it’s the best way to visit Austin, because you get a good glimpse at the best food in the city and you get to hear some great bands. (This year, Austin’s own Spoon is performing! They’re such a polished band and they gave a great show!)

Here’s the thing about ACL Fest: it’s exhausting, the crowds are annoying, and it’s super crowded and hot….and all of that makes it perfect. It’s all part of the experience. If you don’t feel like poop on Monday morning, you didn’t do it right.

So…wondering if you should buy a second Mighty Cone in one day? The answer is yes. 😉

Happy ACL Weekend 2, my friends!

Kelsey

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