A hint of things to come

Hot on the heels of the news last week that the Austin Center for Events is getting close to cutting off applications for special events during South by Southwest, today comes one honey of a list of every event that has thus far applied for a special permit during “spring festival season.” There’s a multitude of uses for a list like this: identifying the parts of the city that will cause especially nightmarish traffic and crowding, figuring which parties look especially attractive to try to score an RSVP or credentials for, or just peeking in on what big global brands are (and aren’t) planning to plant a flag in Austin for most of a week. Noteworthy names missing from the list include Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify, though it’s worth noting that events included there are only those that need some kind of special use of public resources like traffic closures, noise limit rollbacks or capacity increases. If Apple were to, say, rent out ACL Live for the better part of a week booked with exclusive shows, that’s not an event that would necessitate a special use permit. Also of note: Fader Fort is back, now moved to East Seventh Street. What we’re really wondering, though, is what in the world is involved in the 12 Burning Dress Water Art displays that will be set up around various points within the downtown core (more or less) beginning on March 10.