The Front Festival 2025: The Official Recap

Sep 3

Over Labor Day Weekend 2025, The Front Festival took over iconic Austin venues—including The LINE Hotel Austin, The Contemporary Austin—Laguna Gloria and Antone’s Nightclub—for four days of independent music and film.

This year’s Texas-local lineup featured 32 different musical acts and films, all from women and LGBTQ+ artists, musicians and filmmakers shaping Austin and Central Texas beyond.

We welcomed musical performances from talent like rising contemporary cumbia artist Vanita Leo (San Antonio) and conjunto fiddle keeper Belen Escobedo (Austin), as well as independent short films from emerging Central Texas filmmakers like IN TOW (Austin) and Behind The Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism in Guitar Culture (Dallas).

Across all four days, the through-line theme for this year’s festival was an experimental blend of contemporary and classic lenses on Texas culture.

Each night converged to present a future-forward lineup that ultimately brought 900 guests together across generations.

Keep reading for a full look at this year’s impact.

All photos by Jinni J and Yvonne Uwah

THE FRONT FESTIVAL 2025 HIGHLIGHTS:

★ No. 1 — 32 Independent Texas Artists Exhibited

Meet every musician, filmmaker and artist in The Front Festival’s 2025 Lineup here.

★ No. 2 — 900+ Visitors Welcomed

Across Central Texas (and nationwide), friends and family traveled in for a sweet weekend in our Austin hometown. The festival was profiled in Tribeza, CultureMap, Fox7 Austin, CBS Austin and so many more.

Big shouts to Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Antone’s Nightclub, The LINE Hotel Austin, The Contemporary Austin — Laguna Gloria, the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department, We All Belong: Austin Against Hate, the Red River Cultural District, Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, as well as Future Front’s donors and members, for making it all possible.

★ No. 3 — $6000+ Fundraised

Every year, a portion of all ticket sales support Future Front’s programs, which have distributed $1M in creative commissions and honorariums in Texas since 2015.

Thanks to donations at the door and our Cocktails For Good Bar by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, we fundraised $6000+.

(This year, all proceeds directly benefit our recent loss of federal funding. Thank you!)

★ No. 4 — $10,000 In Commissions & Contracts

The festival’s programming generated more than $10,000+ in commissions and contracts for the festival’s participating artists and creative production teams.

★ No. 5 — 100% Community-Led

It took four team members, 48 volunteers and curators, 75+ collaborators and one year of planning to open The Front Festival 2025.

THREE WAYS TO STAY INVOLVED:

★ Head to thefrontfest.com to keep tabs on next year’s festival (Labor Day Weekend 2026).

Learn more about why the festival exists here.
Want to be a participating artist in next year’s festival? Read about our Artist Open Call here.

★ Remember why spaces like The Front Festival matter.

The Front Festival is an end-of-summer community festival, featuring independent music, film and art in Austin, Texas. Curated by Future Front, we put Texas women and LGBTQ+ artists at the front of our lineups.

We believe in the power of a good show, nurturing local talent and contemporary Texan storytelling.

Everybody welcome.

★ Explore all we do at Future Front—and find what’s for you—at futurefronttexas.org/programming.

Apply to a program, like our upcoming Fall Season of The Front Market.
Attend upcoming events at the Future Front House and around Austin.
Visit The Future Front House, open on Fridays and during select events for gallery viewings.
Become a member and get complimentary access to all our events and weekly office hours.
Become a volunteer and help us put on more events like this!