The Round Up - Expanded for Web

If there's one show I've wanted to attend for the past few years, yet never quite managed to get to, it's the Lone Star Round Up in Austin, Texas. I'd seen various reports and heard nothing but good things about the show from friends who'd been, and seeing as I lean toward the, ah, more traditional side of things, I was sure I'd make it out to Austin someday.

That someday happened this past April, and I wasn't disappointed. Sure, the event has grown over the past seven years and moved venues a few times, settling at Travis County Expo Center-which is huge enough to host a national event, so I figure the Round Up's safe for a couple more years, at least!-but despite the size of the daytime show, the evening festivities still center on Austin's South Congress Avenue, in, outside, and around the Kontinental Club.

With cruising going on into the early hours, and people just hanging out on the sidewalks or in the numerous bars and restaurants, there's a distinct party atmosphere to this event that's missing at many others. A few blocks west of all this action, South Austin Speed Shop also threw an open house Saturday night, providing live music and yet more action for an already overly packed schedule.

Daytime action at the Expo Center was just as much fun, with a swap meet new for this year, as well as bands playing on the outside stage, a cacklefest with front-engine dragsters and Altereds, and even a minibike race inside the huge barn. But R&C is a car magazine, so we'd best concentrate on them, and what better way to do so than with five pages of pictures from the show?