Float On

Popular Texas summer music festival floats into Hill Country with biggest lineup yet

Two people sit in inner tubes facing the Guadalupe River during Float Fest.

Float Fest returns after three years with a river-set music festival for the ages.

It’s never too early to start thinking about — or mentally escaping to — summer music festivals. After five years of Float Fest — the very Texan tradition of floating down the Guadalupe River in between some 20 full-fledged concerts — music lovers and dedicated floaters generally know what to expect. But this July 23 and 24, after a move and a revival, there are a few retuned upgrades.

Float Fest is back in action after three years of complications, from a slippery permit that went unacquired in 2019 to the ubiquitous COVID shutdowns of 2020 and 2021. This time, it’s in a new location, a mysterious unnamed “private ranch” in Gonzales, Texas. The new digs are roughly 50 miles from the previous location in Martindale, and three times the size.

Without leaving the ranch’s 765 acres, visitors can access multiple general stores, food and drink vendors, and nearly 2 miles of river. Organizers stepped up the event with more camping (within 450 acres of shady pecan groves), floating, and parking. It’s still two days long, but guests are welcome on Friday — a great time to unwind and get familiar with the new location, within one to two hours of Austin, San Antonio, and Houston (with shuttles from the former two cities).

More than 25 bands are promised in the festival’s biggest lineup yet, to match the festival’s logistical upgrade. In September 2021, Float Fest put out a call for audience feedback on its social media channels, asking for requests for the upcoming lineup.

The most recent Float Fest, in 2018, featured headliners Bassnectar, Run the Jewels, Tame Impala, and Cold War Kids. This year, the lineup could logically include some of the jilted performers from the 2019 schedule that never was, headlined by Major Lazer, Portugal. The Man (who are starting a tour in February), Gucci Mane, and Kaskade. MISSIO, an Austin-based act on the abandoned lineup, appeared at the most recent Austin City Limits Music Festival to great success.

Gonzales, site of the 1835 Battle of Gonzales and originator of the snarky yet oh-so-Texan Come And Take It motto, is full of Texas history. From an old-fashioned town center to historic mansions, there’s plenty to see if air conditioning and a break from camping sounds appealing. The Gonzales Memorial Museum still has the cannon that started the Texas Revolution, and Baker Boys BBQ, one of Texas Monthly’s 50 best barbecue joints of 2021, is serving up charcoal-smoked specialties. Accommodations for music fans who are also fans of showers and beds range from the standard U.S. chains to the stunning white-columned Belle Oaks Inn of 1912.

Float Fest 2022 will take place Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24. Check floatfest.net for updates on the lineup, venue, and other important event details.

festivals music concerts

Pack Your Patience

DFW declared No. 2 worst airport for flight delays and cancellations

Photo by Izyan Sultanali on Unsplash

DFW International also ranks as the second-worst airport for flight disruptions over the holiday travel season.

Ahead of the busy holiday season, North Texans should budget extra time into their travel plans before flying out of the metro's bustling Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

DFW was just declared the No. 2 worst airport in the nation for flight disruptions by consumer review platform ConsumerAffairs, which analyzed the rates of moderate and severe delays, diversions, and cancellations at the 29 biggest U.S. airports. DFW also appeared as the No. 2 worst airport where holiday travel causes the biggest disruptions.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia led the nation as the No. 1 worst airport overall — the only airport deemed more disruptive than DFW.

Unlike many other airports on the list that experience high cancellation rates, the report revealed DFW's biggest issue is its high volume of flight delays. DFW has the No. 1 highest moderate delay rate out of all the airports examined, with more than a quarter of all flights (25.18 percent) delayed by 15 minutes and up to three hours.

"It’s the kind of delay that eats into your day without necessarily blowing up your whole trip," the report's author wrote.

Nearly two percent of all flights are delayed over three hours, making DFW the fifth worst airport for severe delays. However, the study says there is a silver lining for travelers saddled with severe disruptions.

"DFW offered more scheduled backup flights to the same destination than many of the other airports on this list, giving travelers a decent shot at rebooking if a flight fell through," the report said.

These are the cancellation and diversion rates at DFW, per the report:

Cancellation rate: 2.31 percent
Diversion rate: 0.29 percent
Average same-day flights to the same destination: 3.95
Cancellations that were the last flight of the day to that destination: 24.88 percent

Flying at DFW will be even more stressful during the holidays, as 30 percent of flights will suffer from disruptions during the Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel periods — starting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through the Monday after, and again from December 18 to January 5.

DFW has the eighth highest holiday disruption rate out of the biggest airports, and the fifth highest holiday severe delay rate. Put some padding on your itinerary, because about 2.5 percent of all flights will be delayed more than three hours during the holidays.

In ConsumerAffairs' separate list of the worst medium-sized airports, Dallas Love Field landed as the 15th worst out of 32 U.S. airports. About 22 percent of all flights at DAL experience moderate delays — the No. 1 highest rate in this category — and 1.07 percent are severely delayed.

Additionally, over 26 percent of all DAL flights will be disrupted during the holiday travel season, and two percent of flights will experience severe delays.

The top 10 worst U.S. airports for delays and cancellations are:

No. 1 – Ronald Reagan Washington National
No. 2 – Dallas Fort Worth International
No. 3 – Newark Liberty International
No. 4 – Miami International
No. 5 – Philadelphia International
No. 6 – Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
No. 7 – LaGuardia
No. 8 – Tampa International
No. 9 – Washington Dulles International
No. 10 – George Bush Intercontinental

Surprisingly, Los Angeles International Airport landed as the best major U.S. airport for avoiding travel disruptions. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (No. 2) and Seattle-Tacoma International (No. 3) round out the top three best airports for on-time travel.

The report offers the following suggestions to help anxious travelers avoid flight disruptions: look into travel insurance to protect against delays or cancellations; look for nonstop flights; or book flights with earlier departure times on an airline with multiple departures to your destination.

For flights that do get delayed or cancelled, travelers need to "act fast" to rectify their situation, says Jennifer Rykaczewski, the CEO of nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Affordable Skies.

"In the first 10 minutes, open the airline app, see whether you have already been rebooked and search for acceptable alternatives," Rykaczewski said. "Throughout the process, save any documentation of the delay or cancellation, plus receipts for meals or hotels, in case you need it for an insurance claim later."

consumeraffairs dallas love field dfw dfw airport dfw international airport flight delays flights holiday travel travel