ACL fest eyeing Rita

Rain-or-shine event still on, but officials keeping tabs on storm

Though heavy rains are a distinct possibility in Central Texas this weekend as Hurricane Rita threatens the Texas Coast, the Austin City Limits Music Festival is going ahead as planned. But organizers say they are paying close attention to the weather.

"The questions we've gotten from people are mostly, 'Is this thing still on?' and the answer is 100 percent yes." Capital Sports and Entertainment communications director Mark Higgins said Tuesday. CSE is producing the sold-out concert, set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Zilker Park.

"I don't want to scare people and think that this thing is going to be canceled," Higgins added. "I think it will be at most some rain, and this is a rain-or-shine event."

However, CSE is not saying what a contingency plan for a storm might be. "We're monitoring the weather," Higgins said. "If it became an issue, meaning a danger to the musicians or the fans, we will take appropriate action, but we're not commenting publicly on what that action would be. We'd have to wait and see what constitutes a serious storm or a serious amount of rain."

Higgins also said there was some precedent for this danger the first year of the festival. "We went through this with Hurricane Isadore coming this way back in 2002," Higgins said. "We had some rain and that was it."

Isadore, which became a Category 3 hurricane on Sept. 21, 2002, brought flooding to western Cuba and came onshore Sept. 26, 2002, as a tropical storm near Grand Isle, La. with heavy rains and flooding. Two people in Mississippi were killed indirectly as a result of the storm. The 2002 ACL fest took place Sept. 28 and 29.

This weekend, the fourth ACL fest is expected to attract 65,000 fans, many from out of town.

jgross@statesman.com; 912-5926