Mikala Compton

Rain couldn't stop Turnstile fans from turning ACL Fest into a muddy celebration.

The first day of Austin City Limits Music Festival brought rain and soupy mud to Zilker Park, but fans arrived prepared to enjoy the music despite the adverse conditions.

Saturday: Muddy conditions continued at the park for the second day of ACL, with delayed doors as crews work to combat the mud.

Mikala is a staff photojournalist at The Austin American-Statesman in Austin, Texas. She previously served as the chief of photography at the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, where Headliners Foundation of Texas named her Star Photojournalist of the Year three years in a row. She previously worked at the Jefferson City News Tribune and the Columbia Missourian. In her time with the American-Statesman, she contributed to reporting that won an Edward R Murrow Award for breaking news, as well as a contributor to reporting that named the newsroom a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2023. Her work has been published in USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters and The Associated Press. Born and raised in Kansas City, Mikala earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from The University of Missouri. Mikala grew up taking annual family trips to Austin to visit her grandmother, an Austinite since 1975, and has fully adopted the Texas lifestyle since moving to the Lone Star State in 2018. She lives in East Austin with her two cats, Tom Tom and Blanche.

Our photographers took thousands of photos at ACL Fest this year, from iconic music acts to the mud and dust. Here are our 20 favorites.

The Texas Longhorns and Auburn Tigers face off during the volleyball match at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.

The Texas Longhorns and Auburn Tigers face off during the volleyball match at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.

By sideways, I don’t mean that everything goes wrong. At least not in the traditional sense. I mean when you are there, trying to exercise so you can feel fit and capable, then when you try to sit up and all of a sudden the room spins violently sideways. That’s one of those moments when you wonder why everyone else isn’t falling over. Then you realize – it’s vertigo.

Heavy metal tribute band Mac Sabbath kicked off their tour in Austin with support from Clownvis, Alyson Anomaly at Come and Take It Live.

A defendant is seen in this undated photo. In Texas and other states, the rosters of public defenders have been shrinking at an alarming rate, often leaving defendants in jail