Texas Ski Ranch Cablestock Wake & Music Festival

Critic's Pick Release Date: 2011-05-04

The Texas Ski Ranch, a 70-acre sports park in New Braunfels, kicks off its ninth-annual Cablestock Wake & Music Festival with a Cinco de Mayo celebration at onsite Wahoo’s Fish Taco (8 p.m. Thu, May 5). Part wakeboarding competition, part music festival and “beach” party, Cablestock attracts industry pros (who’ll “duke it out” for $10,000) and beginners (who can get their feet wet on the “easy-to-learn two-tower cable system”) alike. The schedule of contests and events is dizzying (tsrcablestock.com/schedule.html), but the bikini contest with live music by Shwayze (sign up by 6 p.m., starts at 9 p.m. Fri, May 6), which divides $1,000 between three sizzling beach bunnies, and the live music festival (8 p.m. Sat, May 7), featuring hip-hop artists Bun B, Chip Tha Ripper, Run DMT, and dubstep DJ and producer Mimosa, stand out as two of the festival’s not-to-be-missed highlights. Except for Saturday night’s live music festival ($20 in advance, $25 at the gate), Cablestock is free to watch. Three-day wakeboarding pass: $49.95; day pass: $36; 10am-midnight Thu, May 5; 10am-midnight Fri, May 6; 9am-midnight Sat, May 7; 9am-6pm Sun, May 8; Texas Ski Ranch, 6700 I-35 N (exit 193), New Braunfels, (830) 627-2843, tsrcablestock.com.