Eric Clapton is steering his Crossroads Guitar Festival back into Texas, and this time Austin gets the full shred treatment. The two-night benefit is locked in for Sept. 26-27, 2026, at the Moody Center, with Clapton slated to take the stage both evenings.
The lineup reads like a six-string fever dream: Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Sonny Landreth, John Mayer, the Del McCoury Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan, Trey Anastasio, Tommy Emmanuel, Julian Lage and Pete Townshend are all listed to appear. Organizers are teasing a mix of full-band main-stage sets and multi-artist jams across the weekend, so expect plenty of "wait, did they really just play that together?" moments.
Tickets, Dates And Where To Buy
The festival is scheduled for Sept. 26-27, 2026, at the Moody Center, and general tickets go on sale April 3 at 10 a.m. CDT, following presales that start April 2, according to Ticketmaster. The listing shows a 5:30 p.m. start on Saturday and a 4 p.m. start on Sunday, along with presale windows and venue policies.
The dates are also confirmed on the festival's official site, Crossroads Guitar Festival, so Austin guitar heads can safely start circling that weekend in ink.
Lineup Highlights And Festival Features
The roster blends Crossroads veterans with first-timers. Trey Anastasio, Tommy Emmanuel, Julian Lage and Pete Townshend are set to make their festival debuts, while longtime regulars return for the kind of collaborative sets that tend to turn into legend-trading sessions.
As Guitar World notes, Guitar Center will serve as the exclusive retail partner on site and is bringing a Legends Collection of instruments, including Clapton's "Blackie" and Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Lenny." Local listings like CultureMap Austin echo the announced lineup and emphasize that Clapton is on the bill both nights.
A Benefit With A Long History
The Crossroads festival raises money for Clapton's Crossroads Centre Antigua, and the 2026 edition marks the 28th anniversary of the center's founding, as noted on the festival's official site. This will be the seventh Crossroads festival, part of an off-and-on series that has popped up in different U.S. cities while pairing established headliners with rising players.
Organizers say the charitable mission runs alongside the marathon concert programming and special presentations, with the event using its star power to keep attention and proceeds flowing toward addiction-recovery efforts.
What Austin Fans Need To Know
Fans eyeing tickets should be ready for Live Nation and partner presales on April 2, ahead of the public on-sale April 3. It is worth taking a few minutes to review the Moody Center's bag rules, entry procedures and accessibility info to avoid getting hung up at the doors, as outlined by Ticketmaster.
Parking around the arena tends to fill quickly on big-show weekends, so ride-share, transit or very early arrival will be the lower-stress options. The festival site and local outlets plan to post any updates ahead of the on-sale dates, so signing up for alerts is the safest way to avoid missing a presale code while you are restringing your guitar.
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