Letting the good times roll

Letting the good times roll

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If Party Town had an address, it might be Sixth Street, Austin, Texas.

This hedonistic entertainment district in downtown Austin is where young people and tourists come to consume liquor and live music with abandon.

. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

It may just be steps from the state Capitol – and from one of the most conservative state governments in the nation – but Sixth Street is a place of liberal rules and liberal drinking. The neighbourhood is packed with bars, restaurants and tattoo parlours, and some 200 musical acts put on shows there any given night.

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Young people chat to each other at the Shangri-La bar, one of the many drinking establishments packed into the Sixth Street neighbourhood.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Young people chat to each other at the Shangri-La bar, one of the many drinking establishments packed into the Sixth Street neighbourhood.

Visitors sit in the back of a tricycle taxi along the busy street lit by neon signs.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Visitors sit in the back of a tricycle taxi along the busy street lit by neon signs.

Austin proudly calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World, and Sixth Street can host hundreds of musical acts a night.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Austin proudly calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World, and Sixth Street can host hundreds of musical acts a night.

Two customers at a Sixth Street bar cling on as they ride a bucking bronco mechanical bull.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Two customers at a Sixth Street bar cling on as they ride a bucking bronco mechanical bull.

Two women in knee-high boots dance in front of a bar hoping to attract patrons and get some tips.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Two women in knee-high boots dance in front of a bar hoping to attract patrons and get some tips.

One of the dancers poses with two customers, while another man takes a picture.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

One of the dancers poses with two customers, while another man takes a picture.

Lights glow in a Sixth Street bar where a group of young women laugh and drink.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Lights glow in a Sixth Street bar where a group of young women laugh and drink.

A young man strides out of a tattoo parlour as two girls wait at a cash machine.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

A young man strides out of a tattoo parlour as two girls wait at a cash machine.

Two students smile as they eat pizza on the street.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Two students smile as they eat pizza on the street.

As the bars close along Sixth Street one girl gets carried across the street.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

As the bars close along Sixth Street one girl gets carried across the street.

As the bars shut up at the end of the night, a man falls asleep on the sidewalk after trying to hail a taxi.
. AUSTIN, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

As the bars shut up at the end of the night, a man falls asleep on the sidewalk after trying to hail a taxi.

Pulsating rhythms and tattoo parlours on Austin's Sixth Street

The party is always raging on Sixth Street, Austin’s hedonistic entertainment district in the heart of downtown.

“Partying on Sixth is always a riot,” said 22-year-old Abbey Alexander, who counts Sixth among her favourite haunts. “No matter what the circumstance, it's always a good time.”

Like the moment on a recent Saturday night when an impromptu dance party broke out on the street in front of a bar where a reggae band was playing inside.

Or the gorgeous women dancing in the window of another, accepting tips and reeling in patrons.

“You can find anything you want,” said Alan Custer, a bartender at the playful Buckshot bar on Sixth. “You want to go wild? You can go wild. If not, you can find a place to relax.”

In this vibrant and growing city of 860,000 filled with an ever-expanding community of bar districts, Sixth Street remains an icon - the granddaddy of night life in the Live Music Capital of the World.

A grown-up playground, this eclectic strip exists just steps away from the state Capitol – and one of the most conservative state governments in the nation.

But it’s all liberal rules and unruly liberation on Sixth, where college students, twenty-somethings, musicians and tourists eat, drink, shop and consume vast quantities of liquor and live music with abandon.

Spanning seven blocks, the Sixth Street district packs in 125 restaurants, shot bars, tattoo parlours, shops and eateries upstairs and down, in a stretch of historic buildings appealingly colourful and ramshackle by day - and lit up with neon signs and pulsating rhythms after dark.

Some 200 musical acts hit the stage on any given night, and big events - like the South by Southwest music, film and interactive conferences or University of Texas Longhorns home football games - can draw hundreds of thousands of visitors over one weekend.

“Those nights are off the hook,” said Austin police Commander Stephen Deaton. “And it’s getting to where darn near every weekend, there is some type of special event.”

It’s the most heavily patrolled area of the city. Police on bikes, horses, on foot and in squad cars can be found every few dozen feet.

No matter where visitors go on Sixth Street and whatever their intentions, it’s always easy to find a good time.

“People are here to party, so nobody’s in a bad mood," said Mandy Rowden, lead guitar player for Cover Girl, a popular cover bands. "What do you have to complain about? It’s Friday night and you’re in a bar on Sixth Street in Austin, Texas. Life is good.”