Summer isn’t going quietly: One last music weekend at Oktoberfest, Bourbon and Beyond

The calendar tells us this weekend marks the official start of autumn. But as the 90-degree temps of the past two weeks have told us in far more demonstrative terms, summer isn’t quite ready to ship out. Luckily, we still have two more festivals in the region to go along with the dog days of September.

One is here at home, the other up in Louisville. One is free, the other isn’t even close.

Christ the King Oktoberfest

4 p.m. Sept. 20, 1 p.m. Sept. 21 on the grounds of the Cathedral of Christ the King, 299 Colony Blvd. Free. ctkoktoberfest.com.

Ever dreamed about being able to drink beer, play Black Jack and listen to live rock ‘n’ roll on the property of a Catholic church? Well, that has become an annual tradition over in Chevy Chase thanks to the Christ the King Oktoberfest.

Along with this weekend’s accompanying Tahlsound Festival, the CTK Oktoberfest is one of Lexington’s great neighborhood music celebrations. Sure, the allure of the beer stands, brat cookouts and children’s activities along with assorted bingo outings and games of chance make Oktoberfest a party for all ages. But the event has also grown into one of the more anticipated music gatherings of the late summer and early fall (this year, it’s both).

During the 2000s, Oktoberfest brought in a startling roster of Americana artists that included The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and Marc Olson, Son Volt’s Jay Farrar, Sam Bush, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey, Ralph Stanley, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, Todd Snider, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Alejandro Escovedo, Justin Townes Earle and many others. Over the past decade, the headlining acts became more mainstream with a succession of veteran pop and rock troupes. Among them: The BoDeans, The Fixx, The Smithereens, Gin Blossoms, John Waite, Starship and Georgia Satellites.

The main attraction for the 2019 Oktoberfest is Saturday headliner Matthew Sweet, a wildly popular indie-style song stylist at the dawn of the 1990s thanks to his breakthrough album “Girlfriend” and successive recordings like 1993’s “Altered Beast” and 1995’s “100% Fun.”

Amazingly, there is no record of Sweet having ever played Lexington as a solo artist until now, despite plentiful performance histories in Louisville and Cincinnati. He did, however, perform here in 2003 as part of the all-star pop/folk trio The Thorns with Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins. The group shared a bill with The Jayhawks (an intriguing pairing considering one of the more popular tracks from The Thorns’ self-titled 2003 album was a cover of The Jayhawks hit “Blue”) at, of all places, the Continental Inn. A conference room at the now demolished New Circle Road hotel was a last-minute substitute venue for the concert.

Friday’s Oktoberfest headliner is country artist Walker Hayes. A native of Mobile, Ala., Hayes created radio buzz in 2017 with a single called “Shut Up Kenny,” a playful and, despite the title, respectful nod to country megastar Kenny Chesney. The singer also scored a Top 10 country hit the same year with “You Broke Up with Me.” Both tunes came from his album “Boom.” Hayes’ current single is “Don’t Let Her.”

As always, a wealth of expert local and regional talent will beef up the lineups each day. The Lauren Mink Band, Dave Ernst and the Early Favorites and The Mojo Tones perform Friday while Johnny Conqueroo, The Binders and Rebel Without a Cause will preface Sweet’s set on Saturday. In traditional Oktoberfest fashion, The Wienerschnitzels will kick off the music both days at 5 p.m.

Bourbon and Beyond

Sept. 20-22 at the Highland Festival Grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, 937 Phillips Ln. in Louisville. $89.50-$1559.50. bourbonandbeyond.com.

In Louisville, Bourbon and Beyond is back for its third year with an avalanche of major league artists that will pile into the Kentucky Exposition Center all weekend.

Among them are Foo Fighters, John Fogerty, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and The Flaming Lips (all on Friday); Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Trey Anastasio Band and Alison Krauss (on Saturday); Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top, Leon Bridges, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Kurt Vile and the Violators and Margo Price (on Sunday).

The festival has a new home this year, as well. After its 2018 outing, one was needed. Torrential rains at last year’s locale, Champions Park, saturated the stage area to such a degree that the venue was declared unsafe by the city of Louisville. That caused all of Sunday’s activities to be called off.

For those who missed out, several of the canceled acts – including Plant, The Del McCoury Band, The Record Company, The Travelin’ McCourys and Ben Sollee – are all giving Bourbon and Beyond a second performance try this weekend.

Doors open at 11 a.m. each day. For a full performance schedule, go to bourbonandbeyond.com/schedule.

This story was originally published September 18, 2019 at 3:51 PM.