Now that summer’s officially 86’d, it’s time for the inaugural (hereafter annual?) City Arts Fest, which takes over our fair city this upcoming Wednesday – Saturday {Oct. 20th – 23rd}. Laden with an impressive lineup at venues far and wide, CAF is catering to more of the mini-SXSW feel that makes these ‘festivals’ enjoyable — think along the lines of MusicFest NW’s style — and for this, we applaud and squee! with joy. There’s something about cramming too many people into too small of a space, even with a homerun lineup, that can make a gathering of the proverbial vibes inherently less fun.

And so — with sneakers laced up and schedules in hand — away we go with the music! Click the links below for more info on each particular show, including the where & what on how to get yourself some tickets:

Wednesday:

• Belle and Sebastian / Benaroya Hall

Thursday:

• Cat Power, J. Tillman / 5th Avenue Theater
  
• Phosphorescent, People Eating People, Daniel G. Harmann and the Trouble Starts / Chop Suey
• The Weepies, The Head and the Heart, Lucy Schwartz / Crocodile

Friday:

• The Vaselines, Dum Dum Girls, The Young Evils / Neumo’s
• Blitzen Trapper, Fruit Bats, Seabear, Wye Oak / Showbox at the Market
• Head Like a Kite feat. Brent Amaker and the Rodeo & The Atomic Bombshells, RA Scion / Crocodile

Saturday:

• She & Him, Mike Coykendall & the Golden Shag / 5th Avenue Theater
• Foals, Pica Beats, Esben and the Witch / Neumo’s
• Sera Cahoone, Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs / Crocodile

There’s tons of non-stageshow fun going on throughout the weekend as well — there’s still time to sign up for Sleeper Camp, stop by Chase Jarvis’s Seattle 100 exhibit, catch Tilson getting his talk on at the Sorrento, the Dolls ‘n Guys cabaret at the Century Ballroom… all that and the whole jam of a lineup can be found at the City Arts Fest homepage here.

We’ll see you out at the shows!