As we write this to you, a hint of the fall to come is in the air in our hills, with temperatures in the high 60’s in our fourth day of a week- long rainy spell. Our high temperature today, in mid-August, is predicted to be only in the mid-70s.
The temperatures will not last – we know that. Summer will return. But it will return with green pastures, which we have not seen in some time. Our sheep and donkeys will be grateful. Our chickens already are. They are out there digging in the mud looking for their next meal.
More than anything this glorious week causes us to look ahead to fall, when these temperatures will be the norm – even when the sun is shining bright. And with fall, of course, comes fall festivals.
It will probably not be quite this nice when the Kerrville Fall Music Festival arrives with Labor Day weekend, September 2, 3, and 4. But the main stage shows are, as always, at night. There will also be lots of local craft beer and wine, and beer and wine seminars, to cool you down (or at least make you less aware that you are hot). And the seekers of the shade, like Beverly, will always find it under the big oak trees. This year the festival includes Ellis Paul, The Peterson Brothers, The Band of Heathens, Warren and Marshall Hood, The Mastersons, The Flyin’ A’s, Ray Wylie Hubbard, High Plains Jamboree, and much, much more. Tickets are available at www.kerrville-music.com. If tent camping and RV’s are not your style, you can always do what we do – stay at Agarita Creek! Our route takes us swiftly around Kerrville, making trips to and from the festival an easy trip.
October 1 and 2 brings Fredericksburg’s Oktoberfest, perhaps the biggest festival of the year here in Fredericksburg. Beer, sausage, polka bands, and lederhosen will, of course, abound. You can buy your tickets at the gate, but you will want to make your reservations for accommodations early. Nothing fills up our little town quite like Oktoberfest.
October is also peak wine touring time along the 290 Wine Trail, and is Texas Wine Month. October 16 is Blankets and Blues, a great Sunday night of blues music outdoors at Baron’s Creekside.
Christmas, of course, begins with Thanksgiving. This year’s lighting ceremony is November 25, which also marks the beginning of ice skating at Marktplatz. The annual Christmas parade, one of our biggest parade events of the year, is on Friday, night, December 2, coincident with the First Friday Art Walk (other Art Walk days are September 2, October 7, November 4, and December 2). The very next day, Saturday, December 3, is the Holiday Home Tour and Market, sponsored by the Pioneer Museum. Of course there will be Christmas concerts and other events throughout December, and plenty of choices of events to ring in 2017 on December 31.
If you know Fredericksburg, you know that these events are just the tip of the iceberg. Whether it is live music, community theater, a variety show, gallery events, or wine events that meet your fancy, there is always something fun doing in our little ‘Burg! So come on out to the farm, we will be sure to steer you right no matter when you come!