ACL brings big money to Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Drive down Barton Springs Road and you will be met with packed restaurants, throngs of ACLers on foot and vendor booths.

Get sick of walking and the idea might cross your mind to rent a bike.  However, at Barton Springs Bike Rental, the 230 bikes they keep on hand are rented out.

"This one event, if we didn't rent any bikes for the rest of the year, up until december 31, 2011, if I did not have to pay anybody to be here, we would still make it," said Eric Snow, general manager.

Pedicab drivers are offering a reprieve for those pounding pavement.  Michael Wilson works for tips and is peddling almost 12 hours a day.

"It is a lot busier," said Wilson.  "There are a lot more people."

Wilson told KXAN with the amount of tips he has made, he is taking a vacation to the beach once the festival is over.

This type of windfall is common according to a study done by Angelou Economics , an Austin-based economic development company.

The study found that the ACL Festival generates more than $73 million in visitor spending and total economic impact for Austin.

Event producers, C3 Presents , estimate that 53 percent of the sold-out festival's 70,000 daily attendees come from outside Austin.

Sally Martin brought her grandchildren to shop.

By Sunday at 2 p.m., she had already spent $40 and was stopping to buy her granddaughter Lily Jones to buy a handmade bracelet.

"We got a little food, water," explained Martin.  "That was my biggest expense."

Martin was not done shopping when she talked to KXAN and told us, she had to check out all the other places because she loves to shop and ACL was offering so many great places to spend cash.