Charli XCX, Lorde, Skrillex to Headline ACL Festival's 25th Anniversary

Key facts

• ACL Music Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026.
• Headliners include Charli XCX, Lorde, Skrillex, The xx, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, and Kings of Leon.
• Skrillex performs weekend one only; Kings of Leon perform weekend two only.
• Spotify launches an ACL Music Fest experience with custom festival personas and personalized playlists.
• Other acts: Turnstile, Geese, Lykke Li, Suki Waterhouse, Blood Orange, The War on Drugs, Amyl and the Sniffers, Bleachers.
• Festival takes place at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, in October 2026.

A Lineup Built for the Anniversary

The Austin City Limits Music Festival has unveiled its 2026 lineup, a roster packed with headliners that underscore the event's 25-year legacy. Charli XCX, Lorde, Skrillex, The xx, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, and Kings of Leon will top the bill at Zilker Park this October. The festival, known as ACLXXV, marks a quarter-century of the iconic Austin event. Skrillex is scheduled for weekend one only, while Kings of Leon will close out weekend two. The xx and Charli XCX are among the acts performing both weekends, ensuring a consistent draw across the two three-day runs. The lineup also features a deep roster of supporting acts, including Turnstile, Geese, Lykke Li, Suki Waterhouse, Blood Orange, The War on Drugs, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Bleachers.

Spotify Integration Personalizes the Festival Experience

In a first for the festival, Spotify has partnered with ACL to launch an interactive experience within its app. Timed to the lineup announcement, the feature allows users to explore the bill and discover must-see acts based on their listening history. Attendees and fans alike can access the experience now. The tool assigns each user a custom “festival persona,” such as The Seeker, The Crowd Favorite, or The Wristband Veteran, derived from their streaming patterns. Users can share their personas via custom social cards. Additionally, Spotify generates a personalized playlist that pairs music from a user’s top artists on the lineup with recommended acts, aiming to help festivalgoers plan their schedules.

A Milestone Year for Austin City Limits

The 2026 edition marks the 25th anniversary of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which began in 2002 as an extension of the long-running PBS television series. Over the years, it has grown into one of the largest music festivals in the United States, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees to Zilker Park each October. The anniversary lineup reflects the festival's evolution, blending pop, electronic, indie, and rock acts across multiple stages. Organizers have emphasized the significance of the X-themed headliners—Charli XCX, The xx, and Twenty One Pilots (whose name includes Roman numerals for 21)—as a nod to the Roman numeral for 25. The festival's programming also includes a mix of emerging and established artists, with Lola Young, SOFI TUKKER, and others rounding out the undercard.

Tickets and Full Lineup Details

Tickets for ACL Fest 2026 are expected to go on sale following the lineup announcement, with weekend passes and single-day options available. The full lineup, including stage schedules, will be released closer to the event. Fans can stream the official ACL Music Fest 2026 playlist on Spotify to preview the artists. The festival will take place over two consecutive weekends in October, with the exact dates to be confirmed. Past editions have typically occurred in early to mid-October. Zilker Park, a 351-acre public park in central Austin, provides the festival's scenic backdrop, with the city's skyline and Barton Creek adding to the atmosphere.

What the Partnership Means for Festivalgoers

The Spotify collaboration represents a broader trend of streaming platforms embedding themselves into live music experiences. By leveraging user data, the partnership aims to reduce the overwhelm of large lineups and help attendees discover new acts tailored to their tastes. For Spotify, it deepens engagement with its user base; for ACL, it offers a digital entry point that may attract younger, data-savvy audiences. The festival persona feature, in particular, gamifies the planning process, encouraging social sharing and word-of-mouth promotion. As music festivals increasingly compete for attendance, such integrations could become standard. ACL's move signals an intent to remain at the forefront of festival innovation, even as it celebrates its past.

Looking Ahead: The Stakes for ACL's 25th

With a milestone anniversary and a high-profile lineup, ACL Fest 2026 faces heightened expectations. The festival must deliver on logistics—managing crowds, sound, and safety across two weekends—while honoring its legacy. The inclusion of major pop and electronic acts like Charli XCX and Skrillex suggests a push to attract a broader demographic, balancing the indie roots that long defined the event. As the lineup circulates online and Spotify's personalized playlists reach millions, early buzz will be critical. The festival's ability to sell out both weekends, as it has in past strong years, will be an early indicator of its continued relevance. For now, the combination of nostalgia and innovation sets the stage for what could be a defining edition of Austin City Limits.

The bottom line

• ACL Fest 2026 celebrates its 25th anniversary with headliners Charli XCX, Lorde, Skrillex, The xx, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Twenty One Pilots, and Kings of Leon.
• Spotify's new ACL experience offers personalized playlists and festival personas based on listening history.
• Skrillex and Kings of Leon are weekend-exclusive headliners, performing only one weekend each.
• The festival takes place at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, over two weekends in October 2026.
• Supporting acts include Turnstile, Geese, Lykke Li, Suki Waterhouse, Blood Orange, The War on Drugs, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Bleachers.
• The Spotify partnership marks a shift toward data-driven festival planning and social sharing.