If you are looking for something to do in Austin this weekend, try on the second annual BatFest for size.

Austin is famous for it's bats - the over 1.5 million Mexican free-tails that make the underside of the Congress Avenue bridge home.  It's the largest urban bat population in North America and you can catch it from April to October.  I've been out there on several occasions over the years, it really is a spectacle to see.  As dusk falls, the first bats start coming out from underneath the bridge.  Within a minute or two the trickle has turned into a flood of little, dark spots darting through the sky in an almost wave-like motion.  Every time I've been the wave heads east initially, following Town Lake for a stretch, before turning back and heading west.  It is certainly one of those things you should do at least once if you are in Austin during those months.

BatFest is this weekend, September 2 & 3, and should include more than 150 arts, craft and food booths, musical performances as well as bat education and, well, watching.  There is also a contest in which local hotel bars compete to make the best Batini using Tito's Handmade Vodka (local product, award winning).