Lake Travis Selected for 2010 AquaPalooza Event by Michael Scheffe | February 1st, 2010

It’s official. 

Austin’s Lake Travis has been selected as the site for this summer’s “AquaPalooza” in late July.

For lake enthusiasts, it’s a huge deal.  The annual event draws thousands of boats and people.  According to its promoters, last year’s event at Lake Martin in Alabama attracted over 80,000 people and 15,000 boats. (I can’t decide whether this makes me want to make immediate travel plans for that weekend or head out to the lake myself to see what that kind of humanity would look like in the water.) 

As its name implies, “Aquapalooza” is essentially the marriage of an on-the-water music festival and large scale boat show.   The event’s sponsor, Sea Ray Boats, promotes it as “The World’s Largest Boat Party”.  The huge gathering features live entertainment, water-related games, contests, and giveaways.  Previous events have hosted such big name entertainers as Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift, Everclear and Soul Asylum.   In picturesque fashion, flotillas of boats, tubes and all form of watercraft “raft up” with each other to watch performances broadcast over giant sound systems and video monitors.

The selection of Lake Travis couldn’t be at a better time for local area merchants.  Two years of exceptional drought and the accompanying low lake levels have been tough on business.  But, 80,000 people will spend lots of money on groceries, restaurants, gasoline, sun tan lotion and everything else under the sun.  Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce President Laura Mitchell said in the Lake Travis View recently, “it will probably create the most significant economic impact the local business community has ever seen.”   That’s certainly great news.

Three cheers for this year’s El Nino!  Keep filling that lake up; we’ve got a festival to put on.