For the first time in the history of Austin City Limits (ACL) festival organizers had to cancel a full day of the event scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 13, 2013.

After the torrential downpour Austin faced in the hours leading up to the last day of the three-day festival, ACL organizers made a decision that they felt would keep their patrons safe from potentially dangerous weather conditions.

Many fans were disappointed to miss some of the festival’s key players such as Lionel Richie, Phoenix, Atoms For Peace, Paper Diamond, Franz Ferdinand, and many more artists who lost the chance to perform (during the second weekend) due to the rainout.

C3 Presents, the company largely responsible for making ACL happen, has issued refunds to those who had purchased tickets to the second weekend for a third of the original price. While this may somewhat lessen the sting for those who purchased their tickets directly through C3, festival goers who utilized alternative methods of purchasing a wristband may not be so lucky because refunds are being sent to the billing address on the original order.

Sophomore Lesly Carbajal said, “It was really upsetting because it’s never happened before, and the refund was nice. But it wasn’t about the money, it was about the experience that ACL provides, you know?”

ACL has a daily attendance of about 75,000 so the festival promoter is responsible for paying back about $5.5 million dollars. That figure does not include production expenses used to remove festival infrastructure or the price of equipment damages. However, despondent fans were not the only ones affected by the extreme weather.

The 37 food and drink vendors at ACL Eats took a substantial hit. After news of the cancellation broke, the vendors scrambled to save their expensive cooking equipment, unsold food and perishable ingredients. Some of the food and drink vendors decided to donate the unsold food. Second Bar + Kitchen was able to incorporate their excess pork belly banh mi into the restaurant’s menu at their brick and mortar location and donate a portion to the food bank.

Others were less fortunate in what they were able to salvage; The Seedling Truck by Royal Fig reported that their booth was completely annihilated by the storm and employees were unable to recover most of their product. Festival organizers requested vendor employees to leave the park Sunday because of safety concerns regarding electrical wires.

Some people were not too broken up over the cancellation, like sophomore Caitlin Bobbitt, who said, “I was bummed about the rainout, but I know that I’ll have a chance to see most of the Sunday bands another place and time. Plus, Austin needed the rain.”

The rain did not stop some artists from performing for their beloved fans. Austin music promoters and club owners turned to social media in efforts to seize this rare last minute opportunity to book acts at small venues.

Lionel Richie reportedly played a private show for 50 guests at an undisclosed home. Headlining band Atoms For Peace, an electronic rock band featuring Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, performed at ACL Live Theater facilitated by C3 Presents, ACL Live, and Transmission Events. Noah and The Whale, a UK rock band, played at the newly opened Empire Control Room venue and Hilltopper Nathalie Phan was in attendance.

Phan, a sophomore, said she and some friends, “waited for around half an hour once [she] got to the door, they said [she] couldn’t get in because they had reached full capacity. We ended up getting food, coming back, and somehow got let in.”

After the show, Phan decided to record a segment for her Topper Radio show, “Nat @ Night” and while in the process of recording she ran in to Noah and The Whale front man, Charlie Fink, which was a welcomed surprise after experiencing some car trouble. “We ended up meeting him, and it was the best scenario to be in while your car is getting towed back to campus,” Phan said.