Why Levitation Fest Matters

The capital city’s connection to psychedelic music stretches back to the dawn of the genre. San Francisco gets credit for being the hub of the scene, but it was an Austin band that first used the word psychedelic to describe their music with the 1966 album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. And it’s the song “(I’ve Got) Levitation” by that same band that inspired the name of Austin’s festival for all things psychedelic rock and beyond.

Dreamed up by members of The Black Angels while in a tour van, Levitation has been a cornerstone of the live music capital for more than 15 years, celebrating the best garage rock, indie, psych, and experimental music in the world. It has become an international destination, drawing artists and attendees from around the globe, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. With performances from niche and rare acts like The Zombies, Silver Apples, Slowdive, and The 13th Floor Elevators themselves, the event’s organizers have a knack for booking not just great artists, but iconic musicians—the kind that people name among their all-time favorites.

“The booking starts with our collective wish list,” explains festival director and co-founder Rob Fitzpatrick. “We ask people who they want to see, then fight like hell to make it happen.” Where many large-scale music events tend to default to a pool of expected names currently touring or promoting album cycles, Levitation cooks up a stunning bill with each new iteration.

This year is no exception, with a trio of standouts: metal heroes Mastodon on Friday, NYC rockers TV on the Radio on Saturday, and indie legends Pavement on Sunday. The lineup’s midsection is just as exciting with artists like Blonde Redhead, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wednesday, and Destroyer.

While the main portion of the festival will take place at the Palmer Events Center on two different stages, there’s an entire slate of late-night programming with acts like The Dandy Warhols, Pup, and Mdou Moctar playing across a variety of downtown venues.

“Austin already has big mainstream festivals,” Fitzpatrick says. “The programming has to mean something to the audience—it’s a different kind of fan, and we’re trying to blow their mind with the lineup each time.”

In that way, the festival feels quintessentially Austin. What gives the live music capital its unique character is that it’s filled with people who pursue passions and operate with bold visions. The city often gets labeled as “weird” simply because its cultural assets stem from a set of creators who just see the world a bit differently. Levitation harkens back to an older era of Austin, when it was a brimming with out-of-the-box thinkers and rife with musicians.

“I hope someone comes to the festival and is inspired by the city and the possibilities,” Fitzpatrick says. “That’s what I felt when I first came to Austin 25 years ago and what I’d like to share through the festival.”

Over the years, Levitation has endured substantial obstacles, including a massive storm that canceled the entire event in 2016 and the pandemic, which halted operations for two years. Over its tenure, the format has varied from outdoor field festival to a series of shows hosted across multiple small clubs. Through it all, founders and organizers have acted with exceptional grit and determination to keep it going.

For Fitzpatrick, the devotion of Austinites and the sense of community the fest inspires imbues him with a spirit of perseverance. “The feeling that what we’re doing is bigger and more important than ourselves is what puts that extra gas in the tank and gives me that tenacity to keep going,” he says.

This year, organizers have teamed up with promotions company Resound Presents and owner Graham Williams, whose work on Fun Fun Fun Fest evokes memories of that beloved bygone fall event. That fact, coupled with the new location at Palmer Events Center, warrants the notion that perhaps some of that Fun Fun Fun magic might spill over into this year.

Ultimately, Levitation taps into the cosmic vibrations that first inspired psychedelic music back in the ’60s. “We want to be a positive force in the world,” Fitzpatrick says. “Things are pretty rough out there to say the least right now, and people need a place where they can experience art and music—not just as an escape, but as a vital experience of community.”