🍂 It's fall, y'all

Friday is here!

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with temps approaching the 90s.

🥳 Axios Austin turns 3 today — help us celebrate by becoming a member!

• Join by midnight tonight and you could win a $100 gift card to a local restaurant. Rules apply.
• Existing members are automatically entered.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Chara Welch! And an early happy birthday to members Bridget and Scott Ramsey!

Today's newsletter is 848 words — a 3-minute read.

Blast that AC before grabbing your favorite blanket and a hot cup of tea.

Why it matters: It's hot, but there are plenty of opportunities to get in the fall spirit.

• From hayrides to haunted houses to Oktoberfest brews, Central Texas has lots of ways to enjoy the season.

🌽 Hayrides and corn mazes

Now's your chance to get a pumpkin patch photo and hop on a hayride. Farms around the area host fall festivals throughout October.

Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls

• Open through Nov. 3, with a pumpkin patch, flower picking, mazes and hayrides.
• Activities are a la carte; hayrides are $4.

Sweet Eats Fruit Farm in Georgetown

• Open through Nov. 8, featuring a 4.5-acre corn maze, pumpkin patch, pig races, fireworks and wagon rides.
• Tickets start at $12.49.

Pioneer Farms' Pumpkin Nights in Austin

• Bring the whole family to Pumpkin Nights, a trail at Pioneer Farms decorated with more than 5,000 pumpkins, a pirate ship and an enchanted forest.
• Tickets are on sale now through Oct. 31 and cost $16 on weekdays and $22 on weekends for adults.

🎃 Oktoberfest

You can celebrate our area's German heritage during Oktoberfest, with beers from local breweries or by taking a trip to Fredericksburg.

Meanwhile Brewing

• Meanwhile's Oktoberfest kicks off at 8am today and continues through the weekend with polka bands, games and stein hoisting for all ages. Free with an RSVP.

Scholz Garten

• Find beer and sausages at the downtown beer garden's annual Austoberfest from noon-10pm on Oct. 5, featuring a stein holding competition, bowling, beer and sausage samples and kids activities.

Haunted houses

The University of Texas wants to expand its live music experiences on campus.

Driving the news: UT officials this week announced a slate of new projects under its Longhorn Live: the Live Music Initiative.

• The campus will host its second songwriter-in-residence, revitalize the Cactus Cafe, launch the Longhorn Piano Project and create new music-focused events.

What they're saying: "Live music is synonymous with Austin, as is UT. Longhorn Live will merge Austin's vibrant music scene with the budding talent on campus and elevate the programming for our communities," university president Jay Hartzell said.

Zoom in: This fall, UT will bring in Austinite Carrie Rodriguez as its second-ever resident songwriter. The school's inaugural songwriter-in-residence, Darden Smith, will also return to campus to offer workshops and live performances.

• Rodriguez, a composer, violinist and bilingual singer-songwriter, will lead workshops for students and premiere an original collaboration commissioned and produced by Texas Performing Arts.
• The show, "Postcards From the Border," will be based on words and images from novelist and faculty member Oscar Cásares and photographer Joel Salcido.
• Featuring Rodriguez and her band, the show will be narrated by Cásares alongside Salcido's images.

The new projects also include a resource from the Moody Center to help students secure discounted tickets to select shows.

• Plus, UT will unveil a new project, in which more than a dozen concert pianos from the Butler School of Music will be decorated and placed across campus for students, faculty and staff to play at any time.

What's next: Tickets are now available for Rodriguez's show, which runs Jan. 24-25 at Texas Performing Arts' McCullough Theatre.

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💧 Residents near a water main break on Spicewood Springs Road say hundreds of dead fish appeared where the water from the burst pipe flowed into Bull Creek. (KVUE)

🍽️ Fine dining restaurant Wink has added lunch service. (Austin American-Statesman 🔒)

🚍 CapMetro's new high-frequency Expo Center and Pleasant Valley bus routes have been delayed to spring 2025, and will launch with reduced frequency and diesel-powered buses. (KUT)

Instagram is launching Teen Accounts in September, with built-in protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.

The impact: More protections for teens, and peace of mind for parents.

Learn more.

We've got you covered with weekend plans.

Friday

🎤 Get nostalgic at Weezer's Blue Planet Tour stop at the Moody Center. Tickets are still available online and start around $40.

📚 Listen to acclaimed novelist Percival Everett speak with Austin poet Roger Reeves from 6-8pm at Huston-Tillotson University in conjunction with American Short Fiction magazine. Free.

Saturday

🎸 Enjoy blues, jazz and gospel music at the annual Eastside Kings Festival on the corner of East 12th and Chicon streets. Wristbands are $25 and available at Antone's Record Shop.

• Event runs Saturday and Sunday.

☕️ Sip a great cup of coffee at the Austin Coffee Festival at the Palmer Events Center on Saturday and Sunday, featuring snacks and entertainment. Tickets start at $29 each day.

🎶 Catch Kaleo at the Moody Amphitheater at 7pm with Larkin Poe. Tickets start around $25.

Sunday

🏍️ Check out lowriders, custom cars, trucks and motorcycles at the Capital of Texas Showdown from noon-5pm at the Travis County Expo Center. Tickets start at $20.

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Grab those thinking caps. It's time for our Friday news quiz.

You know the drill. Guess these three questions correctly for a chance to win a very special shoutout in our Monday newsletter.

1. Whom do the Longhorns face this weekend in football?
2. Are home insurance costs up or down in Texas?
3. What interior design trend is expected to stick around in 2025?

📬 Reply to this email with your answers. Happy Friday!

Starting in September, Instagram Teen Accounts have automatic protections for who can contact teens and the content they can see. Plus, only parents can approve safety setting changes for teens under 16.

What this means: Built-in protections for teens, and peace of mind for parents.

Learn more.

Thanks to Chloe Gonzales and Bob Gee for editing this newsletter.

🌭🍸 Nicole is hosting a weenies and 'tinis-themed birthday party to celebrate her 30th!

🤫 Shhh ... Asher is trying to figure out what to get Nicole for her birthday.

Have a nice weekend, folks!