Your Campus Decompression Zone
Before the music starts in the evening, the Cactus is a great place to meet friends for conversation and relaxation.
Location
The Cactus Cafe & Bar is on Guadalupe Street across from the University Co-op and is located in the southwest corner of the Texas Union building. The Texas Union, at the corner of 24th and Guadalupe, is on the University of Texas campus. Entrance to the Cactus is through the main West Mall Lobby.
Operational Update
University Unions and KUT have mutually agreed to suspend normal programming and sales at Cactus Café due to prevailing conditions caused by COVID-19. This is a temporary modification and information about the resumption of programming and sales will be shared at a later date.
Singer/songwriter, folk & other mostly acoustic acts, since 1979.
Cactus Café & Bar - The Music Venue
The Cactus Cafe & Bar is one of Austin's great acoustic music traditions. The Cactus is an intimate live music performance venue, and since the Cafe opened in February 1979, the Cactus has acquired a national reputation, showcasing the top local, regional, national and international acoustic music acts on the circuit today. Billboard magazine listed the Cactus as one of fifteen "solidly respected, savvy clubs" nationwide "from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces."
Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith and Ani DiFranco are among the singer-songwriters who frequently graced the Cactus stage early in their careers. Over the last twenty-five years many well-known artists performed at the Cactus Cafe, many to return time and time again. Cactus stage. Among them: Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Monroe, Richard Thompson, Guy Clark, the Dixie Chicks, John Hiatt, Iris Dement, Ralph Stanley, Suzanne Vega, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and the list goes on...
The Cactus is a non-smoking venue and has a full bar.
Location
The Cactus Cafe & Bar is on Guadalupe Street across from the University Co-op and is located in the southwest corner of the Texas Union building. The Texas Union, at the corner of 24th and Guadalupe, is on the University of Texas campus. Entrance to the Cactus is through the main West Mall Lobby.
Tickets
For most Cactus performances doors open 30 minutes before show time. Shows generally begin at 8:30 pm. Tickets are sold at the door unless otherwise noted on the Cactus event calendar. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis with no advance sales unless advertised.
Special attractions are presented during the year in the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom and Texas Union Theater. Advance ticket sales for these events are handled by www.cactuscafe.org. For information about Cactus Cafe performances check the listings under Calendar; the display case outside the Cactus entrance; and advertisements in the Austin Chronicle; or call the Cactus at (512) 475-6515 for the daily schedule.
Please email the Cactus Cafe ( cactuscafe@kut.org ) with any questions.
