Austin City Limits 2006: Line-up

After months of online speculation, the promoters of the Austin City Limits Music Festival have announced the three-day event's lineup.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Massive Attack and John Mayer are among the headliners Sept. 15-17 at Austin's Zilker Park. Also confirmed to appear are Ben Harper, Los Lonely Boys, Ween, the Flaming Lips and the String Cheese Incident.

Now in its fifth year, the festival is co-produced by KLRU-TV, the Austin public television station that produces the Austin City Limits program for PBS. Willie Nelson taped the program's pilot episode in 1974, but this year's lineup marks his first Austin City Limits Music Festival appearance."We've tried to get him for years, but it's always a commitment to Farm Aid or the Fourth of July that's been in the way," said Charles Attal, the festival's booking agent. "And, obviously, he's the perfect fit in that the whole lineup is built around honoring the eclectic flair of Austin and honoring the television show's tradition."

Last year's festival featured three days of sold-out crowds and a headlining performance from Coldplay, but also plenty of festgoers complaining about thick clouds of dust. Organizers attributed the dust to unusually dry conditions at Zilker Park. And last week, Capital Sports and Entertainment, the Austin co-producers of the festival, and the city of Austin announced plans to split the financing on a new sprinkler and irrigation system for Zilker. The three-phase, three-year project will install a new main irrigation system and eventually pump water from Austin's Town Lake for sprinklers and water fountains in the Zilker Park sports fields.

According to a representative for CSE, a limited number of three-day passes, priced at $115, are still available at www.aclfestival.com. Later in the summer, producers plan to offer single-day tickets.

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