Despite scorching heat and swirling dust during the past two gatherings, Austin City Limits Music Festival promoters announced Wednesday that the outdoor event will be Sept. 15 to 17, 2006 — a week earlier than the 2005 edition in Zilker Park.

Festival booker Charles Attal said that moving the festival to October would be a problem for many big-name acts.

"Everybody is touring in September," Attal said. "We wouldn't have had Coldplay last season if we had gone into October."

However, Ray Waddell, a senior editor at Billboard magazine who covers touring, told the Austin American-Statesman last month, "This festival has established itself to the point where (bands) would make a place for it. It's totally on the map with the artists, agents and managers."

Five weeks ago, Austin temperatures climbed to 108 degrees, and hundreds of festival-goers were treated for heat-related ailments. Clouds of dust also plagued revelers.

The average Austin high for mid-September is 90 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

"Everyone always worries about the heat, but I think these last two years have been strange," Attal said. "And October can get cold and rainy. We don't mind rain, but we can't have cold rain."

Some Austinites reacted to the date announcement with bemused frustration.

"I understand that there are many, many conflicts as they move later in the calendar, but I really wish they could have found a way to do it," said KUT Music Director Jeff McCord. "I think it's a health concern. In their defense, there may have been no option. It's a tricky time. But on a personal level, I wish they'd chosen a later date."

While the festival sold out all three days — at 65,000 attendees each day — the American-Statesman's Austin360.com Web site logged dozens of complaints about the heat and the dust.

"I have attended the last two years, and this year was horrible — the heat was unbearable, and the dust was awful," said Austin interior designer Kristi Kangas. "I am a true music fan, so I will of course still attend."

Festival promoters at Capital Sports & Entertainment said they choose the date of a bye weekend — or an away game — on the University of Texas football schedule. Next year, the Longhorns play the Rice Owls in Houston on Sept. 16.

"We always pick the dates that UT football is not in town," Attal said. "I really don't think we could have the festival on a game day. There aren't enough hotels for the city to have a football game and the festival. Even after (you house) the bands, half the fans come in from out of town for this thing."

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