Top Fall Events in Austin, Texas

The great thing about living in Austin in the Fall, is that it's a great city to do many things, both indoor and outdoor. You can catch a movie, learn to salsa dance, wander local festivals, and of course, catch some local and national music acts. Local events are held at clubs and convention centers, but there are also many events held outdoors to enjoy the Texas autumn warmth. Below is a brief compilation of the events happening over the next few months in Austin, Texas.

Gibson Guitar Town

The Austin GuitarTown project is a public arts project dedicated to bringing visual and musical artists together in a unique display of ten-foot Gibson Guitar sculptures to be placed throughout the city in November 2006. The project will benefit four designated Austin based charities. The guitars are located around well known Austin areas and landmarks. You can see the guitars and visit unique Austin sites all in one go!

Black Arts Movement! Festival

Austin's ProArts Collective presents the Black Arts Movement! Festival, featuring artists from around the nation coming to Austin to perform and celebrate African-American performing arts. This second annual festival has something for everyone, theater; dance spoken word, visual art and music. Festival line-up includes international hip-hop theater company, Universes, Urban Ballet Theater from NYC, Michael Fossberg in his much talked about solo piece, Incognito; as well as the return of some of last year's Austin based favorites, UpRise! Productions, Zell Miller III, and the annual east end R&B and Jazz festival, SoulFest.

2007 Fall Salsa Dance Festival

On Friday, September 28 UT Informal Classes is organizing the Fall Salsa Dance Festival 2007 on the UT campus (Texas Union Ballroom), featuring LIVE Salsa music by one of Austin's best Salsa bands: The Brew. The entrance fee is $10 in advance of $15 at the door. If you miss the festival you can also register for Salsa dance classes through the University of Texas' Informal Class system at www.informalclasses.org.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo

This year's Expo will be held at Texas Parks & Wildlife headquarters in Austin on October 6th & 7th, 2007. It's an outdoor experience where visitors fish, shoot, kayak, rock climb, mountain bike, see and touch wildlife, learn about recreation in the Great Outdoors and see and buy the latest in outdoor gear and services. Most importantly, visitors can learn how they can help to conserve this precious resource. And it's FREE!

St. Elias Mediterranean Festival

Enjoy authentic Mediterranean food, music and dance at the 75th annual festival on October 5-6, 2007. Homemade baklava, tabouleh and other Lebanese, Greek and Middle Eastern treats will be served, along with exotic wines, beers and cocktails. Greek bands and dance performances will be held on two stages. A $5 donation is suggested to benefit the St. Elias Orthodox Church.

'Happy Days' Theater Performance

Capital T is proud to present Samuel Beckett's final full length play, not seen on an Austin stage in over 20 years, in this limited engagement of nine performances. Capital T's production of HAPPY DAYS features two of Austin 's finest veteran actors, Katherine Catmull and Travis Dean, under the direction of Capital T Artistic Director, Mark Pickell. You can see 'Happy Days' at the Hyde Park Theater, running from October 4-20, 2007, Thursday through Saturday. Seats range from $15-$25.

Austin Film Festival

The Austin Film Festival is dedicated to championing the work of aspiring and established filmmakers, defined as screenwriters, directors, editors, producers, actors and all artists who use the language of film to tell a story. In past years, the Austin Film Festival and Conference has welcomed such notable guests as Owen and Luke Wilson, Sandra Bullock, Oliver Stone, Russell Crowe, Mike Judge, Robert Duvall, Jason Schwartzman, and Matthew McConaughey to name a few. We produce over 80 interactive panels over the course of our 4-day Conference including: Meet & Greets in a casual and intimate setting; Roundtables where you'll meet at least 8 agents, filmmakers, or producers; and the general Panels, some of which we limit to as few as a 30-person audience. The 2007 Festival will run from October 11-18.

Halloween on 6^th Street

The downtown streets will be cut off for almost 60,000 costumed street walkers on Halloween, October 31, 2007. This is definitely one of the country's largest Hallow's Eve celebrations.

Austin Celtic Festival

The Austin Celtic Festival has been an integral part of the Austin arts scene since 1997 and is the largest gathering of Celts in Central Texas. It is two days & four stages and presents nearly 200 artists, dancers, actors, musicians and storytellers. The 2007 Festival will be held November 4-5, 2007.

Austin, Texas Showlist

www.showlistaustin.org This is a list of shows for the Austin area. It is by no means meant to be the Austin showlist, merely a showlist. This is the best resource for music shows in Austin. It features some national acts, but mostly local and independent shows. Keep checking back to make sure you don't miss your favorite artist when they make their stop to the Live Music Capital of the World.

These events are just the tip of the iceberg for all the amazing things going on in Austin. You can pretty much just show up in town and find something to do. So, if you think you might be bored this weekend, check out some of the websites I've listed below. There is definitely something for everybody is our culturally vibrant Texas town.

www.austin360.org

AustinTexas.org

www.gibson.com/AustinGuitarTownWebsite/

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/exptexas/programs/expo/expo2007/

www.informalclasses.org

www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/film_festival

austincelts.org/festival/