After a year off, Creek Show returns November 13 through 21, from 6 to 10 p.m. each night. This is its first year on the southern stretch of Waterloo Greenway, along Waller Creek from 4th Street to Lady Bird Lake. The main entrance is at 4th and Sabine streets, at 703 1/2 E 4th St. Ten light-based installations by local artists and design teams will line the creek. Read together, most of them are about the creek that was here before the restoration. They cover the washerwomen who once worked its banks, a moon tower that stood nearby for a century, the stormwater pipes under the streets, and the monster Austin made up for the creek.
The setting is The Confluence, Waterloo Greenway's Phase II, which opened June 6. It covers about 13 acres between 4th Street and the lake. For nine nights it hosts the show. For the rest of the year, it is a new walking and cycling route connecting Rainey Street, Palm Park, the convention center blocks and the Butler Trail.
The Show Follows the Construction
Creek Show started in 2014. It has always been staged on whichever part of Waller Creek was being rebuilt, moving from the creek downtown to Waterloo Park as each piece of the greenway was finished. In May 2025, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy said the show would not return that November in its usual form. It would come back in 2026 at The Confluence instead. Creek Show Artistic Director Ingrid Spencer, who also leads AIA Austin and Design Austin, said at the time that the show "has always evolved alongside Waterloo Greenway, moving to highlight each new chapter of its transformation."
The skipped November came from that same pattern. The next stretch of creek wasn't ready, so the show waited. In May 2025, the Conservancy described Phase II as still under construction, with the Hartman Bridge already open. That bridge carries the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail across Waller Creek.
Admission has also changed over the years. The 2023 show was advertised as free. In 2024, everyone needed an online reservation, and some nights were free while others had a small fee. In 2026 the whole event is ticketed, and all proceeds go to the Conservancy's work building and maintaining a 35-acre urban park system with the City of Austin.
Ten Installations, Mostly About What the Creek Was
The 2026 lineup includes architecture firms, a construction partner, independent artists and small studios. Taken as a set, the pieces show what the restored creek sits on top of.
| Installation | Team | What it draws on |
|---|---|---|
| CONTACT | BRR Architecture | Lit sculptural hands that change color when touched, in memory of people displaced from the creek |
| drip-drop | Lord Aeck Sargent | Light that gathers under a bridge and falls like a drop of water, about water conservation |
| Moon Tower 15.1 | HKS Architects and DPR Construction | Moon Tower 15, which stood less than a block away for a hundred years and is still waiting to be restored |
| Nocturnal Garden | Yuliya Lanina | Flowers that grow along Waller Creek, reimagined with human eyes |
| Fractal Time Fish: Portals of the Confluence | WarrPaint | The creek's fish life, as steel-and-film sculptures that attach only to existing structures |
| NOT IN MY RUNOFF! | UNS | The hidden stormwater network that drains into Waller Creek |
| Petri-chord | Creek Freaks | The quiet rhythms of rain and moving water |
| Sacred Datura | SOM/Playhou.se | Datura, a native plant of the Edwards Plateau, with animations projected onto the Red River Street bridge |
| Shadow Current | Charlie A | The washerwomen who lived and worked along Waller Creek from after the Civil War into the 1950s |
| Waller Wildings | Kick Punch Bite, LLC | A new version of the Waller Creek Monster, styled after Japanese designer toys |
Two of these pieces are tied directly to their spot on the creek. CONTACT's description says Waller Creek was "once deemed unlivable for its inhabitants" and now draws people back to gather. Moon Tower 15.1 is meant to be visible from the park's bridges and from nearby hotel towers, and to cast moving shadows across the Waller Creek boardwalk. Its description says the original tower "was relocated once, promised restoration, and is still awaiting its reemergence." NOT IN MY RUNOFF! sits at the drainage pipe outlets inside The Confluence, the places where stormwater from the streets above reaches the creek. Sacred Datura uses the Red River Street bridge as a projection screen, so a piece of road infrastructure becomes part of the show for nine nights.
The Park Is Built to Be Crossed
The Confluence was designed first as a way to get through downtown. According to the City of Austin, it has three lattice bridges that create new east-west crossings over Waller Creek. Its 800-foot boardwalk lets trail users skip the intersections at Red River Street and Cesar Chavez Street. A continuous off-street bike and pedestrian trail connects the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, Palm Park, Rainey Street and the Butler Trail. For anyone walking from the convention center blocks to the lake, or biking from Rainey toward the bikeway, that boardwalk replaces two busy downtown street crossings with a path along the water.
The park also has places to stop along the way. The Lagoon Overlook and Leaf Deck sit next to Lady Bird Lake. The Lakeview Terrace and Explorers Garden are shaded and family-friendly. At 4th Street, the Cypress Grove and Trailhead Plaza lead down to the creek. The Urban Land Institute Austin named The Confluence its Best Public Place at the 2026 Impact Awards. The project cost $91.5 million. More than $62 million came from the City of Austin, $12.5 million from the Conservancy, $11.3 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and $5.2 million from a grant by the Austin Urban Forest Replenishment Fund.
The planting is still new. The city counts more than 200,000 plants and 1,600 new trees. The Conservancy puts the trees at nearly 1,550, along with 10 acres of seed mixes. Either way, the show's lights will hit a landscape that has been in the ground for only about five months.
When the park opened in June, Waterloo Greenway CEO Colette Pierce Burnette called it "a transformational moment for the city of Austin." Congressman Greg Casar told KXAN it was a place where people could "enjoy the gem of the city" and do something together for free. That still holds outside the nine show nights. The ticketed event raises money for the parkland that stays open year-round.
Planning a Night on the Creek
When you buy a ticket, you choose an entry window of 6 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m. The window only sets when you can enter, and the line closes at 9:30 p.m. if you want the full show. A Fast Pass for quicker entry is sold as an add-on to general admission. A discounted four-pack admits four people on a single night, and children 4 and under don't need a ticket. Waterloo Greenway's ticketing page on Universe lists prices from free to $21.25. Opening Night tickets run $9.88 to $21.25, and the listings don't break those figures out by ticket type.
Each night has its own theme:
- Friday, Nov. 13: Opening Night
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Family Night, with activities at Creek Monster Cove
- Sunday, Nov. 15: Maker Night, plus an Artist Talk at 7 p.m. that requires a reservation
- Monday, Nov. 16: Community Night, powered by PNC, free with a reservation
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: Pride Night, with local LGBTQ+ organizations
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: Vodka for Dog People Night, presented by Tito's Handmade Vodka, and dogs are welcome
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Wellness Night
- Friday, Nov. 20: Go Greenway Night, focused on members and environmental groups
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Closing Night
Creek Monster Cove will have food, drinks and activities throughout the run. For anyone driving in, the Austin Convention Center garage at 601 E 5th St. will offer $5 parking from 5 to 10 p.m. on show nights, with limited spaces. The Conservancy recommends rideshare as the other option. If you live within walking distance, you can skip the parking question and walk to the 4th and Sabine gate.
What Stays After the Lights Come Down
The Confluence sits between several downtown landmarks: Palm Park, the Rainey Street Historic District, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, the Austin Convention Center and the Butler Trail. Some of those connections are still under construction. From June 2026 through March 2027, the Butler Trail's north shore near The Confluence and the Austin Rowing Club building is rerouted while Austin Energy installs underground electrical lines along the shoreline between Brazos and Trinity streets. Next comes Sir Swante Palm Neighborhood Park, between 2nd and 3rd streets from Sabine Street to I-35. Its restoration is scheduled to start construction in 2027 and includes restoring the historic Shelter House. Based on the show's history so far, that stretch is a likely candidate for a future Creek Show.
There's more on the greenway calendar before the show. Waterloo Greenway's Monday movement and yoga sessions run through Nov. 2, and its Tuesday Stay Strong workouts run through Nov. 3. A Zumba class moved from Oct. 3 to Oct. 31. A few blocks west, Mexic-Arte Museum's Viva la Vida Day of the Dead festival fills Republic Square and 416 Congress on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 6 p.m. Free Community Night reservations for Nov. 16 are the first Creek Show tickets to book.
At DEN Property Group, we pay attention to how downtown's public spaces change the way its blocks live, and Waller Creek's new stretch is one of the most important of those changes. If you're thinking about which downtown address puts you closest to the boardwalk, the bridges and the lake, we'd be glad to walk it with you. Find Your DEN.®
