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Hill Country festival throws eclipse party with camping and Texas bands

Music lovers will flock to Utopia to watch concerts and the eclipse in nature.

Plans are being laid across Texas to watch the eclipse occurring on Monday April 8, when the sky will darken and the sun will disappear except for a glowing backlight.

Utopia, Texas, 340 miles southwest of Dallas, lies right in the center of the eclipse path and will provide a ringside seat via UtopiaFest, the long-running 14-year-old music festival which in 2024 will capitalize on the eclipse with a specially-timed rendition taking place April 5-9. (Previous renditions took place in the fall.)

The five-day festival will be located at the Four Sisters Ranch, a 1000-acre countryside stay with hiking and camping facilities in the Hill Country between Garner State Park and Lost Maples State Natural Area.

The festival offers a variety of passes, ranging from a short three-day pass to the full five days. Every person attending needs one of the following passes:

Sunday-Tuesday, $350
Saturday-Tuesday, $400
Friday-Tuesday, $430
Sterling Pass, $600, spanning the full Friday-Tuesday stay with expedited entry, entrance for any vehicle, premium camp site, and access to Sterling lounge

All passes include free parking and tent camping, with available park-and-unload by campgrounds.

There are also passes if you want to drive in and "car camp" or if you want to bring an RV, with limited power hookups available, and separate passes for kids and teens ($20 to $40). Dogs are an additional $150.

The festival recently released its lineup of nearly 50 acts spread across two stages, dominated by Texas artists including Dallas band The Texas Gentlemen, who will perform on "eclipse day," Monday April 8, along with acts such as Ghostland Observatory, Phoebe Hunt, and The Mighty Orq.

In the U.S., eclipse "totality" will begin in Texas at 1:27 pm (and will end in Maine at 3:35 pm Eastern time, or 2:35 Texas time). Austin funk/soul ensemble Sir Woman gets the honor of performing during the magic moment, says Utopiafest co-founder Travis Sutherland.

This was meant to be the festival's last year, but the announcement hints that the camping festival may return. "We can't wait for one last Four Sisters Ranch party (for now)!" it says.

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Brianna Caleri contributed to this story.

concerts festivals live music nature

Airline mayhem

Passenger who was duct taped on Milwaukee-to-Dallas flight arrested

Courtesy photo

Duct tape

An unruly man who was duct-taped by fellow passengers on a flight from Milwaukee to Dallas has been charged for assaulting a flight attendant.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton, Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya, 29, was charged via criminal complaint with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

Olaiya injured a flight attendant in an attempt to exit the plane mid-air.

According to court documents, on November 19, roughly two hours into the flight from Milwaukee to Dallas, Olaiya became frustrated with the flight attendant as she worked the forward galley.

Witnesses told law enforcement they heard Olaiya say he was “captain of this flight” and needed to “get off the plane.”

He then allegedly charged the flight attendant in an attempt to access the aircraft exit door. The flight attendant, identified in court documents as S.J., used her body to shield the door and was injured in the scuffle.

Other passengers rushed to assist, tackling Olaiya and duct-taping his wrists and ankles, then keeping him subdued for the rest of the flight. With only 30 minutes left, the pilots continued to DFW, calling the tower for priority landing and taxing. The incident made national news.

Once they landed, Olaiya was removed from the plane by officers and taken in for a mental evaluation. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas is prosecuting the case.

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Airline mayhem

Passenger who was duct taped on Milwaukee-to-Dallas flight arrested