How much of The Confluence have you walked since it opened on June 6? The park covers 13 acres of rebuilt Waller Creek between 4th Street and Lady Bird Lake, and the Urban Land Institute Austin's 2026 Impact Awards named it "Best Public Place."
From November 13 to 21, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy is moving Creek Show, its light-art event, downstream to The Confluence for the first time. Most of the ten installations point at something physically in the park: a bridge, a drainage pipe, a landmark that used to stand a block away, or a group of people who lived along this creek. Treat the show as a map of The Confluence, drawn in light, and it repays a second look.
Waterloo Greenway's Creek Show 2026 page describes each piece. Taken together, those descriptions read like notes on the park itself.
The rest of the lineup carries the same idea further. It moves from the park's physical features to the people and landmarks the creek has already lost.
Shadow Current, by Charlie A, uses moving shadows to show the communities of washerwomen who lived and worked along Waller Creek from just after the Civil War into the 1950s. The figures hold fabric screens as if they were airing laundry, and images of Austin shift across the cloth.
CONTACT, by BRR Architecture, places glowing sculptural hands along the creek in memory of the people who were displaced from it. If you touch a hand, its color changes. If two people touch different hands at once, the installation changes again, so strangers end up working on it together.
Moon Tower 15.1, from HKS Architects and DPR Construction, has the most local backstory. According to the Conservancy, the original Moon Tower 15 stood less than a block from the installation site for a hundred years. It was relocated, promised a restoration, and is still waiting to come back. The new piece uses folded, layered panels that filter light the way the moon waxes and wanes. It's designed to be visible from the bridges and the hotel towers nearby, and to throw shadows onto the Waller Creek Boardwalk. If you've been around Rainey Street long enough to remember the tower, this is the installation to go see first.
The installations make the most sense once you know the park's layout. The City of Austin's project page for The Confluence lists its main features.
Most of the planting at the southern end is new. The Conservancy counts nearly 1,550 trees, 200,000 mature plants and 10 acres of seed mixes along this stretch, and says the eroded banks were rebuilt to work alongside the Waller Creek Flood Control Tunnel. Five months in, those plantings will look very different from the opening-day photos. The light installations will shine on new growth.
The show runs nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. Each of the nine nights has its own theme:
The Monday is the only free night, and the Conservancy says reservations are limited. If you live within walking distance, that's the obvious night to go. On the other eight nights, tickets go to support the Conservancy's planned 35-acre park system.
When you buy a ticket, you choose an entry window of 6 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m. You need to be in line by 9:30 p.m. to see everything. Ticket options include General Admission, a 4-pack discount for groups, and a Fast Pass add-on that gets you in faster. Children 5 and under don't need a ticket. On the Universe ticketing page, opening-night prices range from $12.16 to $73.54 depending on the ticket type.
If you're driving in from across town, the Austin Convention Center garage at 601 E. 5th St. will offer $5 parking from 5 to 10 p.m. each night of the show while spaces last. The Conservancy also recommends rideshare.
Community Impact reported that 1 Hotel Austin opened on Sept. 3 along The Confluence. It's the brand's first Texas location, with 252 rooms inside the Waterline, a 74-story tower at 96 Red River St. Its three venues work at different points in a Creek Show evening.
Neighbors Café & Wine Bar is a first-floor grab-and-go café with locally sourced food, coffee and cold-pressed juices. The hotel lists food service until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. That works for something quick before an early entry slot.
Alteño is also on the first floor. It's built around Chef Johnny Curiel's roots in the Jalisco highlands. The listed dinner hours run until 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, so you can catch the 6-to-8 entry window and still sit down for dinner afterward. According to The Infatuation's October openings guide, the menu includes bluefin tuna tostadas, kanpachi aguachile and ribeye tacos.
watr is the rooftop restaurant, serving Japanese-inspired food and cocktails. Food service is listed until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on weekends, and the bar stays open later. Moon Tower 15.1 was designed to be seen from the hotel towers near the creek, so the rooftop puts you level with one of the views the artists planned for. The hotel's hours were posted in the spring, so check them before you build your evening around a reservation.
Walk in at 4th and Sabine, follow the light down to the lagoon, and you'll end up at the base of the Waterline. In one walk you'll pass the bridges, the pipes, the plantings and the history that make up the park. If The Confluence has changed how you think about where you want to live downtown, Anna Lee would be glad to talk it through over coffee. Schedule a private consultation.
3825 Lake Austin Blvd Ste 501 Austin TX 78703
3825 Lake Austin Blvd Ste 501 Austin TX 78703
