There is something about a perfect autumn day that makes me think about spending the evening at an outdoor music festival, relaxing with nice cold amber-colored beverage.  While summer is synonymous with music festivals, the fall brings with it gorgeous color, pleasant weather and less crazy crowds.  If I could transport myself through time and space right now, these are the fall music festivals that I’d buy a ticket to experience:

Austin City Limits

For almost as long as man has tracked the changes in seasons, we have also enjoyed music.  Austin is one of the best places in the U.S. to experience festivals and live music.  The ACL Music Festival gives you a great excuse to skedaddle on down to Austin this fall.  The schedule is so full of musical talent that it spans two jam packed weekends full of artists such as Pearl Jam, Beck, The Gaslight Anthem and The Replacements.  You can’t beat the quality of bands and the variety of music.  The festival is also family-friendly, so your kids can enjoy Austin Kiddie Limits which offers tons of activities for the tiny rock-and-roll fans in your family.  Follow on Facebook

Harvest Music Festival

If Autumn’s changing colors and slower pace lead to your listening tastes turning a bit more mellow, I can’t think of a better place to be than at the Harvest Music Festival in Arkansas’ Ozarks.  This year’s lineup has more than 50 acts playing and the majority of the acts play Americana, Folk, Blues and even some Funk.  Enjoy the crisp fall air listening to bands with names like Carolina Chocolate Drops, The JayHawks, Lettuce and Yonder Mountain String Band.  Unlike the Voodoo festival, there are not a number of 5 Star hotels nearby, so the majority of the festivals attendees camp on site.  Even I, a girl who loves the feel of Egyptian cotton sheets and the smell of room service would happily crawl into a sleeping bag to hear great music.    Follow on Facebook

The Voodoo Experience

By late fall New Orleans is enjoying its driest season of the year and also enjoys average high temps in the mid 70’s so this would be the perfect time to head down to the Big Easy.  It’s really hard to beat New Orleans music mixed with everything from Electronic to Reggae to Pop to Jazz into a big bowl of magical musical gumbo. That’s exactly what you’ll get at the Voodoo Experience. There’s more than 80 acts playing over the course of three days, so you can’t help but be exposed to artists you never heard of before.  And hey, you’re in The Big Easy so once you tire of festival food you’d still be in one of the best foodie towns in America.  For an added bonus, stay in town for another couple of days and take in the spectacle that is Bourbon Street on Halloween night.  Follow on Facebook

What’s your favorite fall music event?  Add to the comments below.

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