This Labor Day weekend, we hope you get all the rest and relaxation you deserve, with maybe just a bit of fun mixed in! To help you plan, we’ve teamed up with local social discovery app Pulsr to share free weekend fun happening all over Austin.
Pulsr is a free app that offers a personalized list of recommendations for local events and activities happening near you! We have partnered with Pulsr this week to showcase the very best family-friendly weekend events featured in the Pulsr app! Download the app for iOS or Android, then click the Pulsr links below to save your top weekend picks, and easily share them with friends.
Weekend Top 10 Free Events in Austin Presented by Pulsr
- First Friday Block Party (Find on Pulsr) – Friday from 6-9:00 p.m. Join in.gredients for a family-friendly night of gathering the community around live music and a good cause. A portion of the evening’s sales will be donated to Workers Defense Project. American Dreamer will be playing on the porch with their mix of orchestral and folk sounds. Plus, sample products from some great vendors and chat with the makers of Good JuJu Energy Balls, Moonshine Sweet Tea, and Fara Coffee. Black Star Co-op Pub & Brewery will be doing a tap take over, a perfect way to try all they have to offer. Take a seat and let Devon of One Love Healing Center melt away all of your tensions – chair massages will be only $1/minute. Try out Refyll’s incredible zero-waste self care products. FREE! in.gredients, 2610 Manor Rd, Austin.
- Home Depot Kids Workshop: Back to School Whiteboard (Find on Pulsr) – Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. You and your child can get to work on a mini whiteboard with a pen tray they can use for schoolwork or play time. Once the whiteboard is built, your child can paint it in their favorite color. All kids get to keep their craft, receive a certificate of achievement, a workshop apron, and a commemorative pin, while supplies last. Guests are encouraged to pre-register online. FREE! Your local Home Depot.
- Big Bird RC Airshow (Find on Pulsr) – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Join the Austin Radio Control Association for their biggest airshow of the year. Pilots will be onsite with some of the most incredible scale radio control airplanes that you will ever see. WWI biplanes, massive scale WWII fighters and bombers flying in formation, giant bush planes being lazy in the air, breathtaking aerobatic aircraft, and sleek, modern civilian scale models will all be tearing up the skies. Family friendly and FREE! Austin Radio Control Association – Lester Field, 8705 Lindell Ln, Austin.
- Staci Gray Kids Show (Find on Pulsr) – Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Bring the whole family to this awesome Austin venue for music and bubbles. FREE! Strange Brew, Lounge Side, 5326 Manchaca Rd, Austin.
- Special Guest Storytime: Angela Dominguez (Find on Pulsr) – Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Angela Dominguez, Pura Belpré Honor Award winner and illustrator of Maria Had a Little Llama will be reading and signing Marta! Big and Small! Plus, she’ll create an amazing original illustration in front of your eyes. The speaking portion of this event is FREE! To get a book signed, a copy of the event book must be purchased from BookPeople. You may also be interested in the A Moon of My Own book signing event at BookPeople on Sunday! BookPeople, 603 N Lamar Blvd, Austin.
- Local & Live Music Series: Sarah Pierce (Find on Pulsr) – Saturday from 1-3:00 p.m. In Austin, we pride ourselves on having live music in unexpected places–grocery stores, hike and bike trails, our airport, and even the Austin Visitor Center. Each performance in this series will provide the audience with a closer, more intimate experience with the artists, who will usually be playing solo or acoustic sets. FREE! Austin Visitor Center, 602 E 4th St, Austin.
- H-E-B Free First Sunday at the Bullock (Find on Pulsr) – Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Explore the Story of Texas through three floors of exhibitions that showcase artifacts from around the state. Discover the story of the 17th century French ship La Belle as it is reassembled live in front of you in La Belle: The Ship That Changed History and explore artifacts recovered with the ship. Explore the beauty and majesty of Big Bend National Park with stunning photography, artifacts, and personal reflections in Journey Into Big Bend. Enjoy FREE exhibit admission all day. Please note that Sunday is a UT gameday. Parking at the Bullock Museum will be $20 and the garage may be at capacity. Bullock Texas State History Museum, 1800 N Congress Ave, Austin.
- Sunday Funday: Pinhole Camera (Find on Pulsr) – Sunday from 1-4:00 p.m. Sunday Fundays at the Neill-Cochran House Museum feature historically-inspired activities for children, scavenger hunts in the historic house, and informal tours of the museum. This Sunday, you can visit the museum to learn about pinhole photography and build your own pinhole camera. Photography used to be a physical, chemical process involving some guess-work, some experience, and some (often clunky) specialized equipment. If you haven’t had to take a picture without being able to see the image or assess its quality beforehand, you haven’t taken a photograph like a 19th- or early 20th-century person. FREE! Neill-Cochran House Museum, 2310 San Gabriel Street, Austin.
- Free Day of Yoga – All day Monday. Participating studios across the Austin area will offer FREE classes throughout the day as an opportunity for people of every age and fitness level to try yoga for the first time, experience a new style of yoga, visit a new studio or take a class from a new instructor, share yoga with friends and family, and discover the benefits of yoga. Various times and locations.
- Labor of Love: a Community-Building Labor Day Event (Find on Pulsr) – Monday from 3-7:00 p.m. Dozen Street Bar is hosting this opportunity for fun, networking, and community outreach. Families can enjoy a picnic/potluck, kids talent show, games, and face painting. Meet representatives from local organizations, hear spoken word and stump speeches, and register to vote. Make some new friends, sign up to help a good cause, learn a new skill, network, dance, dream big; this is what makes a community. Admission is FREE. Suggested donations of canned goods, school supplies, or cash will be gratefully collected at the door. Dozen Street, 1808 E 12th St, Austin.
More Events Beyond Austin
- Movie In The Park: Grease Sing-along (Pflugerville) (Find on Pulsr) – Friday at 7:30 p.m. Get out your costumes for the costume contest, head to the park, and join the pfun. Movie starts at approximately 8:30 p.m. Start your Labor Day weekend off right by singing along with Danny and Sandy — the words will be on the movie screen. FREE!
Pfluger Park, 515 City Park Rd, Pflugerville.This event has been moved to Green Red Barn at Heritage Park, 901 Old Austin Hutto Rd, Pflugerville. - Star Party (Cedar Park) (Find on Pulsr) – Friday at 9:00 p.m. Star gaze on a state-of-the art computer guided telescope. View through the telescope, take telescope assisted photos with your smartphone, and learn major stars and constellation positions along with the planets and moons. Learn how to read a star map, and much more. Weather permitting. FREE! Texas Museum of Science & Technology, 1220, Toro Grande Dr, Cedar Park.
- Splash Jam (Cedar Park) (Find on Pulsr) – Sunday from 5-9:00 p.m. Enjoy live music, food concessions, inflatables, face painting, carnival games, and rides. Admission is FREE, but fees apply for some activities. Fees also apply for Milburn Pool, which will be open from 1-8:00 p.m. The evening will end with a fabulous fireworks display. Elizabeth Milburn Park and Pool, 1901 Sun Chase Blvd, Cedar Park.
