In its 12th year, the 2018 Austin Ice Cream Festival was held on Saturday, June 23 at the beautiful Fiesta Gardens along Lady Bird Lake. Known as an Austin summer tradition, this tasty festival featured more than a dozen frozen treat vendors that helped us cool off on an exceptionally hot Texas day.
I had the opportunity to attend the After Dark portion of the festival which was held from 6-10 PM and was the perfect way to wind down after a Saturday full of errands and visits. You can catch the day recap here. We strolled up as the sun started setting along the water and tall oak trees, and was immediately greeted by the kind volunteers who gave us our sampling passbook and directed us to the entrance.
First stop, Odd Pop, where I enjoyed a lemon thai basil popsicle that was uniquely refreshing. We enjoyed our pops while hopping into line for Baked Bear which appeared intimidatingly long but went by surprisingly fast! Baked Bear has quickly become one of my favorites, with their delicious ice cream cookie combos that will have your mouth watering by just the description. I went with their blackberry crumble sample that I so badly wished I could go back for seconds.
Next stop, Ice Scrapers rolled ice cream, where I tried their special “Monkey Nuts” consisting of vanilla ice cream mixed with bananas and Nutella, topped with whipped cream and nuts. Waka Waka followed, offering their delightful green tea ice cream accompanied by their signature warm bubble waffles and fresh blueberries.
Other vendors we enjoyed included Amy’s Ice Cream (an Austin classic!), F’real Milkshakes and Smoothies, Moojo, and Swoon by H-E-B, but one of our favorites of the night was Téo Gelato which gave us FULL PINTS of one delectable flavor of our choice (I went with Italian Peanut Butter Cup because… YASS).
Our tummies were full and heart content as we wrapped up the evening listening to the jazzy, soulful tunes of Lee Fields & The Expressions who had the whole crowd bouncing and living their best, happy, summer lives.
We already can’t wait to attend next year’s Austin Ice Cream Festival and are so thankful for the lovely experience all the volunteers, workers, and vendors provided! For more information on the festival, be sure to visit https://austinicecreamfestival.com/, and stay tuned for more recaps and articles on future Austin events and festivals!
Featured image credit: Abby Cota
Leigh is a native Texan gone temporary New Yorker and now proud Austinite. Passions include but are not limited to music (both as a spectator and dabbler), traveling & cultural adventures, film & television, true crime, design (of the fashion, interior, and graphic sorts), and photographing & writing about all the aforementioned. Self-acclaimed coffee connoisseur & wino, cat aficionado, book worm, and nature junkie.