For ten years, Waller Creek's public life ran upstream. Creek Show lit the upper creek, and Waterloo Park held the concerts. The stretch between Fourth Street and Lady Bird Lake was mostly something you crossed at a traffic light. That changed on June 6, 2026, when the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy opened The Confluence. It is the second phase of the greenway: a half-mile of restored creek, trail and gathering space running down to the lake.
This is the new section's first fall, and the calendar treats it as the greenway's main stage. Creek Show is moving downstream after a year off. Grandpa's Lakeview Terrace is hosting family mornings in October. And a 252-room hotel opened at the creek's mouth on September 3. Waller Creek now has two ends with two different jobs, and the lower end has taken over the evenings.
The Half-Mile That Used to Be an Intersection
The city describes The Confluence as about 13 acres rebuilt along Waller Creek between Fourth Street and Lady Bird Lake. It cost $91.5 million, and work ran from May 2023 until it was substantially finished in June 2026. The piece that changes a daily walk is an 800-foot boardwalk along the creek. It lets you skip the crossings at Red River Street and Cesar Chavez Street. Three lattice bridges add east-west footpaths over the water. A continuous off-street trail now links the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, Palm Park, Rainey Street and the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail.
The planting is denser than what most people picture upstream. The Confluence added more than 200,000 plants, 1,600 trees and 200 native species. John Rigdon, the Conservancy's chief planning and design officer, compares that with about 90,000 plants and 5,000 trees at Waterloo Park. So the new section has fewer trees but more than twice the plants, packed close to the water. Rigdon puts temperatures on the trail at about 5 to 7 degrees cooler than street level. The paths are at least 12 feet wide and lit at night, which matters once the November evening programs start.
"This is a landscape reconstruction as much as it is a restoration. So, really building from the bedrock up." John Rigdon, Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, speaking to Community Impact
Wildlife arrived before the public did. Around opening, Rigdon reported birds, turtles, fish and a beaver already using the restored creek. The Urban Land Institute's Austin chapter has since named The Confluence its 2026 Impact Awards winner for Best Public Place.
Creek Show Moved With the Construction
The clearest sign of the shift is Creek Show. The light-art show started in 2014 and spent about a decade on upper Waller Creek, following the greenway as it grew from the downtown creek corridor into Waterloo Park. In May 2025, the Conservancy said that November would not see Creek Show "in its usual form." The show would come back in 2026 on the new downstream section instead.
That return is now set. Creek Show 2026 runs nine nights, November 13 through 21, from 6 to 10 p.m. It covers the stretch from Fourth Street to Lady Bird Lake, and the main entrance is at Fourth and Sabine streets. Local artists and design teams created ten light installations along the creek. They include Moon Tower 15.1 by HKS Architects and DPR Construction, Nocturnal Garden by Yuliya Lanina, Petri-chord by Creek Freaks, Sacred Datura by SOM and Playhou.se, and Waller Wildings by Kick Punch Bite.
The show is ticketed, and proceeds go to the Conservancy. When you buy, you pick an entry window of 6 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m., and you need to be in line by 9:30 p.m. A Fast Pass add-on speeds up entry, a four-pack is discounted, and children 4 and under don't need a ticket. If you drive, the organizer lists $5 parking from 5 to 10 p.m. in the Austin Convention Center's 5th Street garage, with limited spaces. For most downtown residents, though, the new trail is the easier way in.
Five of the nights have themes:
| Night | Date | What's Different |
|---|---|---|
| Family Night | Saturday, Nov. 14 | Programming for families |
| Maker Night | Sunday, Nov. 15 | Artist talk |
| Community Night | Monday, Nov. 16 | Free with a reservation |
| Pride Night | Tuesday, Nov. 17 | Pride celebration |
| Dog Night | Wednesday, Nov. 18 | Dog-themed evening with Tito's |
Community Night is the one to book early if cost is a factor. The organizer describes it as free with a reservation.
The Upstream End Kept the Stage
Waterloo Park didn't go quiet. It still carries the scheduled weekly classes and the big-ticket concerts. The free Yoga & Sound series meets at Moody Amphitheater on Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m., September 14 through November 2, with no session on October 19. Free Morning Zumba runs Saturdays at 9 a.m. on the Meredith Heritage Tree Deck through October 10. The Moody Amphitheater concert schedule includes:
- Jack White, October 6
- Dermot Kennedy, October 13
- Ziggy Marley and Gov't Mule, October 15
- Foster the People, October 16
- Hermanos Gutiérrez, October 18
- Mon Laferte, October 20
- Steve Lacy, November 7
Waterloo Park also hosts the free Día de los Muertos celebration on November 1 from 4 to 8 p.m., with community altars, performances, food and a Future Front Texas artisan market. The altars stay up through November 2. On November 7, the free family morning Morning Glories: Diwali runs from 9 a.m. to noon.
The new section has a smaller, earlier fall calendar of its own. On October 17, Grandpa's Lakeview Terrace hosts a family morning on monarch migration and pollinators from 10 a.m. to noon. A family tree walk and scavenger hunt follows on October 24 at the same time and place. Both events build on the planting, and both lead into Creek Show three weeks later. Waterloo Park keeps the amphitheater. The Confluence gets the nature programs and the night walks.
A Hotel Opened at the Mouth of the Creek
The south end now has its own place to eat and drink. 1 Hotel Austin opened September 3 at 96 Red River Street, inside the 74-story Waterline tower along The Confluence. It is the brand's first Texas location. It has three places to eat and drink, and each fits a different part of a day on the creek.
Neighbors Café and Wine Bar, off the lobby, is the morning stop. It serves coffee, breakfast, juices and lunch, then switches to wine, draft cocktails and small plates in the evening. The hotel lists food service starting at 6:30 a.m. every day, early enough for a walk on the boardwalk before work.
Alteño Austin comes from James Beard-nominated chef Johnny Curiel and Kasie Curiel of Fonda Fina Hospitality. Its Mexican menu draws on the Jaliscan Highlands. Breakfast includes chilaquiles and huevos rancheros. At dinner you'll find queso fundido, pan de elote made as a jalapeño cornbread, and duck carnitas with mole negro chichilo. The hotel lists Alteño's dinner service until 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. That matters for anyone holding an 8-to-10 Creek Show ticket on the opening weekend.
watr is on the 16th floor. It serves Peruvian-influenced Japanese food with city views and DJ sets. The published menu includes milk bread with yuzu-kosho butter, shrimp toast, poke bowls and caviar bumps. Hours are posted on the hotel's site and may change after the first season, so check before you go.
The trail also reaches the Rainey Street district, where Emmer & Rye, Banger's Sausage House & Beer Garden, Geraldine's and Half Step are a short walk from the lower creek. Before June, getting from Rainey to the Butler Trail meant crossing streets. Now it can stay on the off-street path.
The One Detour on the Lake Side
One nearby change is easy to mix up with The Confluence itself. From June 2026 through March 2027, the city is rerouting the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail on the north shore near the Austin Rowing Club building. Austin Energy is installing underground electrical lines along the shoreline between Brazos Street and Trinity Street. The city asks trail users to slow down near the work and follow on-site staff. The Confluence stays open, but a lakeside loop heading west from the creek's mouth will hit the detour all season, including Creek Show week. The city's project page also notes that minor work and vegetation maintenance are still going on at The Confluence. Our guide to Austin parks and Downtown Austin neighborhood page cover the rest of the trail network around the lake.
Downtown's newest public space opened right outside some front doors on the lower creek. If you'd like to know which buildings along The Confluence and the Waterline offer that kind of daily access, Local Life can walk you through it. Schedule a Private Consultation.
