Creek Show Moves Downstream This November, Onto Downtown's Newest Stretch of Waller Creek

The entrance this year sits at 4th Street and Sabine Street, at an address most people have never needed: 703½ E. 4th St. From that gate, Creek Show's ten light installations run south along Waller Creek to Lady Bird Lake. They pass under the Red River Street bridge, over the three new lattice bridges and down an 800-foot boardwalk built into the creek itself.

From Friday, November 13 through Saturday, November 21, 6 to 10 p.m. nightly, the show will be lighting a park that opened only five months ago. The Confluence is open, planted and busy with programming. It is also the southern end of a greenway whose middle section, 4th Street to 12th Street, is still in design. This year's Creek Show is the first nighttime look at that new park, and several of the artists chose to make work about what the creek still lacks.

Twelve Years of Creek Show, Now South of 4th Street

Creek Show began in 2014. According to Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, it has moved over the years "from Waller Creek downtown to Waterloo Park," following the creek's restoration as each piece was finished. This is the first year it runs on The Confluence. The conservancy's own billing says "Creek Show Moves Downstream."

The ground it moves onto is new. The Confluence opened June 6, 2026. It is 13 acres along Waller Creek between 4th Street and Lady Bird Lake, built through a $91.5 million public-private partnership, according to the conservancy's grand-opening announcement. The pieces a Rainey or Red River neighbor walks past today all arrived with it:

• Three lattice bridges that add east-west pedestrian crossings over the creek
• An 800-foot boardwalk in the creek that lets trail users skip the Red River Street and Cesar Chavez Street intersections
• Gathering spaces next to the lake called the Lakeview Terrace, the Explorers Garden and the Leaf Deck
• A link to the creek at 4th Street through the Cypress Grove and Trailhead Bridge
• Downtown's first biofiltration pond, which treats stormwater from 26.2 acres of the surrounding city

The planting count depends on the source. The conservancy's release and the City of Austin's project page put it at about 1,600 new trees and more than 200,000 plants. Creek Show's site describes the same stretch as "the most ecologically diverse section of Waller Creek," next to Palm Park, the Rainey Street Historic District, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, the Austin Convention Center and the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail.

Several Installations Are About the Creek's Unfinished Business

You can treat the ten pieces as a glowing walk to the lake, and they work that way. But the descriptions on the Creek Show 2026 page show that a good number of them are about something missing or not yet back.

Moon Tower 15.1 by HKS Architects and DPR Construction is the clearest case. The artists say the original Moon Tower 15 stood "less than a block from the proposed site" for a hundred years, "was relocated once, promised restoration, and is still awaiting its reemergence." Their folded-panel sculpture stands in for that tower and is meant to be seen from the Confluence bridges and nearby hotel towers.

Shadow Current by Charlie A uses moving shadows to show the communities of washerwomen who lived and worked along Waller Creek from after the Civil War into the 1950s. The figures hold fabric screens like laundry on a line while images of Austin pass across them.

CONTACT by BRR Architecture places lit sculptural hands along the creek "remembering those who were displaced from the creek they once called home." The hands change color when touched, and they change in other ways when strangers touch different hands at the same time.

NOT IN MY RUNOFF! by UNS points at the drainage pipes in The Confluence and makes the stormwater network under downtown visible as a branching, pulsing creature. drip-drop by Lord Aeck Sargent works the same theme more quietly. Light gathers under a bridge into a single droplet that falls onto a stone, a cycle about water conservation.

The rest are pure night spectacle:

• Sacred Datura by SOM/Playhou.se, with fabric flowers that physically unfurl and animations projected onto the Red River Street bridge
• Fractal Time Fish: Portals of the Confluence by WarrPaint, a school of steel-and-dichroic-film fish lit by LEDs and lasers and attached only to existing structures
• Nocturnal Garden by Yuliya Lanina, flower sculptures with human eyes
• Petri-chord by Creek Freaks, eight floating blooms beaded with small drums that turning spokes strike
• Waller Wildings by Kick Punch Bite, LLC, three lit guardians inspired by Japanese designer toys and by the Waller Creek Monster tradition

Nine Nights, Each With a Theme

Each night has its own theme, and a few are worth planning around if you live close enough to walk.

Monday's Community Night is the only free night. The conservancy calls it "one night, every light, at no cost to the community," and free spots require a reservation. Every other night is ticketed, and all proceeds go to Waterloo Greenway Conservancy. One generic event listing describes the show as free, which is wrong for this year, so check the conservancy's ticket page for current prices.

The ticket rules:

1. When you buy, you choose an entry window of 6 to 8 p.m. or 8 to 10 p.m. You must be in line by 9:30 p.m. to see the full show.
2. A Fast Pass gets you quicker entry, but it's an add-on to a General Admission ticket, not a ticket of its own.
3. A discounted 4-pack covers four people on one night.
4. Children 5 and under don't need tickets, and the show runs rain or shine.

If you're driving in, the Austin Convention Center garage at 601 E. 5th St. offers $5 parking from 5 to 10 p.m. each Creek Show night. Spaces are limited, and the conservancy suggests rideshare instead. Food, drinks and activities are set up at Creek Monster Cove.

What the Lights Won't Reach Yet

The Confluence was planned as the southern anchor of a continuous, 1.5-mile off-street trail from Waterloo Park to Lady Bird Lake, so that people could walk the whole greenway without crossing a busy street. That trail isn't finished. On the conservancy's future-projects page, Phase III, from 4th Street to 12th Street, is marked "In Design." That's the section that would finish the 1.5-mile trail and connect The Confluence to Waterloo Park. For now, going north from the show's 4th Street gate to Waterloo Park still means using regular streets and sidewalks.

The lake end has a detour too. From June 2026 through March 2027, the Butler Trail is rerouted on the north shore near The Confluence and the Austin Rowing Club building. Austin Energy is installing underground electrical lines along the shoreline between Brazos Street and Trinity Street, according to the city's Confluence page. The city asks trail users to slow down near the work and follow staff on site.

Palm Park, just east of the creek, is next in line, and its timeline is also in 2027. The Daily Texan reported on October 8 that City Council approved a federal grant application on September 24. The city applied for $5.7 million with a matching contribution, grant winners are expected May 1, 2027, and final design work is expected in 2027.

So the creek this November has a finished southern stretch with its first big show, a design-stage middle, a rerouted lakefront trail and a neighboring park waiting on a federal grant decision. The installations about a missing moon tower, the washerwomen and hidden stormwater fit a corridor that is still being built.

Before and After the Show

The rest of the downtown calendar fills in around those nine nights:

• Saturday, Nov. 7: Morning Glories: Diwali, a free family event on Waterloo Park's Meredith Heritage Tree Deck, 9 a.m. to noon
• Saturday, Nov. 7: Steve Lacy at Moody Amphitheater
• Nov. 12 to Dec. 30: Miracle on 5th Street, the holiday pop-up bar at The Eleanor, opens the night before Creek Show does
• Saturday, Dec. 5: The Downtown Holiday Sing-Along & Stroll, 5 to 8 p.m. on Congress Avenue, with music, food, vendors and the Capitol tree lighting

If you own near Waller Creek, the 4th-to-12th design work and the Palm Park decision will affect what your block looks like in a few years. Grimes Group Austin follows each phase of the greenway closely and is glad to talk through what it could mean for your property. Request a Confidential Home Valuation whenever you'd like that conversation.