Lite + Brite Monthly: May
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the monthly edition of the Lite + Brite newsletter.
We’ve got plenty to share with you this month: a new playlist of roadtrip bangers, a list of Austin businesses and traditions that date back at least 50 years, and of course a birds-eye view of intriguing-looking May events. And it’s all here in beehiiv, because we successfully transitioned over from our old newsletter provider, because we are just that good at technology! If anything about this new email service isn’t working for you, let us know so that we can try to fix it, or, at the very least, apologize.
If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We send out one email a week, usually on Fridays, plus this bonus edition around the start of each month. Please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.
Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
Looking Ahead to Upcoming Events
Our weekly newsletters will include many more listings, but here are a handful of events that we know are planned for the next month. We’re giving you the heads up now in case you want to pre-buy tickets or block off the time.
- May 8: Touch the Art Grand Opening at Almost Real Things Canopy
“Finally, you can touch all of the art on the walls” – couldn’t agree more - May 8-9: Friends Fair at venues throughout Austin
Galleries local + abroad curate hotel rooms with contemporary art - May 9: IMOLE: A Black Fae Day Celebration at the Carver Museum
Celebration of faeries + the Black diaspora w/story time, crafting, parade, costumes - May 9: Hyde Park Storytelling at Batch Craft Beer
Family-friendly storytellers ply their trade in a backyard w/ASL interpreter - May 9: Woodland Faerie Trail Grand Opening at Zilker Botanic Garden
Explore artist-crafted faerie homes throughout the park - May 9: Fae Fest at Ani’s Day + Night
Faerie-themed “immersive marketplace + festival” w/photo-ops + activities - May 9: Pun-Off World Championships at Brush Square Park
Pun lovers nationwide flock to Austin to be crowned the punniest - May 9-10: Art04 Studio Tour at spaces throughout south Austin
Artists w/studios in South Austin open their studios + share their work - May 9 + 23: Overheard on a Train on the metrorail
Participate in immersive theatre while exploring public transit - May 13-17: Cine las Americas at various locations
View films of all kinds made by Latinx filmmakers from Texas + beyond - May 14-16: Texas Burlesque Festival at Elysium + the Long Center
A big celebration of both traditional + boundary-pushing burlesque - May 14-17: Affordable Art Fair at the Palmer Events Center
Large-scale art fair focusing on affordable art pieces for sale - May 16: Wowzaramakaboom at Collection Rert
Closing party for art venue w/“art, games, music, spontaneous performances” - May 16: Cultural Currents on Red River
Learn the history of Red River’s past venues while catching DJs + live music - May 16: Paper Dragon Small Press Fair at the Highball
Buy DIY zines + art from the zinesters + artists who make them - May 17: Divas at the Bullock Museum
Choral + orchestral arrangements of music by pop divas of past + present - May 20-June 7: Another Kind of Silence at the Vortex
Deaf, hard-of-hearing, + hearing actors perform play in English + ASL - May 21: Flight from Extinction at AFS
Premiere of a doc about bats recovering from the brink of extinction - May 21: ATXplained at Bass Concert Hall
Learn facts + trivia about Austin via the medium of a live podcast taping - May 22: PietschHouse Summer Kickoff at an unannounced East Austin venue
Live music, DJ, + live art being made at a house show - May 23: Rocket Cinema 5th Anniversary Party at Ani’s Day + Night
Live space rock paired with live visuals on Rocket Cinema’s outdoor screen - May 23: Pirate Prom at Tiny Minotaur
Pirates have commandeered a prom complete w/live music + costume contest - May 23: Austin Asian American Zine Fest at Epoch – Village
“AANHPI-centered zine fest” w/DJ, workshops, zines, + art - May 23: Wet Hot American Bummer at Kealing School Park
“Yet another altar to sin and havoc” in the form of a sadistic bicycle race - May 23-24: Here Be Monsters at Radio East
“Exploration of Austin’s most celebrated indie-classical artists + creators” - May 24: Coriolanus at Pease Park
Reimagining a Shakespeare play to incorporate Mexican + Texian history - May 28-31: ATX TV Festival at various downtown venues
“TV camp for grown ups” w/panels, premieres, stars, + screenings - May 29: Video Games Live at the Long Center
Symphonic performances of music from a variety of video game soundtracks - May 29: Die Harder at Sky Candy
Burlesque performers + aerialists reimagine high-flying Bruce Willis vehicle - May 29-30: Ballet Under the Stars at Zilker Hillside Theater
Free outdoor ballet peformance
Driver’s Seat
Lite+Brite will be taking a number of road trips this May so we thought this was a good time to assemble a bunch of our favorite songs to play when we hit the road.
Listen on: Spotify / Apple / YouTube
Tracklist
Sniff ‘n the Tears – Driver’s Seat
Psychic TV – Roman P.
the Replacements – Alex Chilton
Lilys – Any Place I’ve Lived
the Clean – Draw(in)g to a (W)hole
Felt – Apple Boutique
Field Music – Disappointed
Donald Fagen – I.G.Y.
Prefab Sprout – Faron
It’s Immaterial – Driving Away from Home (Wicked Weather for Walking)
Minks – Margot
Marble Arch – Gold
Altered Images – Think That It Might
Violens – Totally True
School ’94 – SoLong
Black Marble – Private Show
Catz ‘N Dogz – There
Car Crash Set – Fall from Grace
Fun Fun – Give Me Your Love
Ssion – Inherit
PPJ – Primavera
Trio Esperança – Não Aguento Você
Young Holt Trio – Wack Wack
Ginger Root – Loneliness
the Hang Ups – So We Go
Flamingosis – Cosmic Feeling
Lite + Brite’s Guide to Old Austin Stuff
As the 13th largest city in the U.S., Austin experiences a lot of turnover. The closing of Lamme’s Candies after 141 years has recently made us hyper-aware of this. So we wanted to take a moment to honor some of the Austin businesses and events that have staying power, which, for our purposes, we’re defining as “founded in 1976 or before.” “Make new friends but keep the old” can apply to storefronts, too, right?
P.S. We have no reason to believe that any of these venues are haunted, but the possibility is always on the table!
50 years old: Bookwoman, feminist bookstore
50 years old: Wheatsville Co-op, grocery store
50 years old: Waterloo Ice House, bar + restaurant
51 years old: Antone’s, live music venue
51 years old: El Arroyo, Tex-Mex restaurant with iconic marquee
51 years old: Fonda San Miguel, upscale Mexican restaurant
52 years old: Hole in the Wall, bar and live music venue near UT
53 years old: Catfish Parlour, catfish restaurant
53 years old: Playland, roller rink and arcade
54 years old: Lala’s Little Nugget, year-round Christmas-themed bar
55 years old: Top Notch Hamburgers, fast food joint
56 years old: BookPeople, Texas’s largest independent bookstore
57 years old: Draught House, brewpub with plenty of outdoor seating
62 years old: The Broken Spoke, classic honkytonk for Texas two-stepping
62 years old: Eeyore’s Birthday Park, annual freewheeling party in Pease Park
63 years old: Carousel Lounge, bar and music venue with carnivalesque decor
63 years old: Little Longhorn Saloon, honkytonk known for weekly Chicken Shit Bingo
71 years old: The Continental Club, South Congress music venue
74 years old: Matt’s El Rancho, Tex-Mex restaurant
78 years old: Peter Pan Mini Golf, exactly what it sounds like
80 years old: Mattie’s at Green Pastures, upscale restaurant in a Victorian home
88 years old: Quality Seafood, fish market
89 years old: Karavel Shoes, shoe store
97 years old: ABC Kite Fest, annual festival in Zilker Park
100 years old: Dirty Martin’s Place, fast food joint
111 years old: The Paramount, historic theater
140 years old: The Driskill, upscale hotel with bar + restaurant
160 years old: Scholtz Garten, German beer garden
All-the-Time Austin Artsy Fun
Our weekly newsletter features upcoming events, but sometimes the activity you’re looking for isn’t an event at all—it’s a place that’s always there. Next time you find yourself with an afternoon when nothing special seems to be going on, you could consider checking out one of these evergreen options.
- Austin Pinball Collective
A cache of free to play pinball machines concealed in an office park - Mesmerize
An interactive dream-like world made of site-specific installations by 15+ local artists - Hyperreal Film Club
A clubhouse for weird cinema, with oddball screenings four nights a week - Tiny Minotaur
Drinking and costumed LARPing, Dungeonsynths performing in the dungeon w/lots of lore - The Eureka Room
Uniquely goofy, silly, + fun immersive games you play with a group. No spoilers! - We Luv Video
The Alexandria Library of video rental. It’s community-run, you can rent movies or watch them in a cinema while literally surrounded by VHS tapes and DVDs. - The Goats at Jester King Brewery
More a theme park geared towards folks who like refermented cherries in their beer (me) than a brewery. I have not experienced the Goat Experience, but I have seen their goats, and I approve. - Cathedral of Junk
A towering achievement to collecting weird old stuff that will spark nostalgia and cause you to wonder at your last tetanus shot timing - West China Tea House
In addition to their events, West China is a wonderful place just to chat with interesting and welcoming people and drink some delicious tea - Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve
A lovely park + nature walk that is protected by a crack corps of dedicated peacocks and peahens. Good luck escaping without some flashy, feathery displays. - Laguna Gloria
The Contemporary Austin’s outdoor sculpture garden. Culture + Nature = Profit. - Austin Creative Reuse Center
A nonprofit shop where you can get any art, craft, or office supplies you can imagine for literal pennies. Eat your heart out, Office Despot. - Museum of the Weird
It’s right there on Dirty 6th but worth a visit. From famous fake paleontology to recreations of horror film sets, there’s lots to see. - James Turrell’s Skyspace
Like Turrell’s best works, this is an art experience which unfolds slowly over time. Watch as the changing colors of sunset remake the space.
Thanks to our Patreon subscribers
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Liz, Melissa Dunn, Kat, James Gray, Emily Heddleson, Andrew Creswell, Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Thomas Refferson, Bones Malones, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Alexander Freed, Kristen Backor, and Timon A. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Mailchimp fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”
If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.
About Us
How do we choose which events to feature?
Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, and the 60+ Weirdest Things in Austin for exactly what it sounds like). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.
Who are we?
We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, like No Lights No Lycra and BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here’s a playlist of some of our favorites from 2026). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.