LouFest is here!

Jason Gonulsen
Special to Metromix

It's really been a great year for live music in St. Louis, but this weekend, it's about to get a whole lot better. The inaugural LouFest Music Festival will be taking place in Forest Park, and I'm ready to stand in the sun, sing and dance to all the great music that will be taking place. I've looked forward to this event for many months now, and to be honest, it's a bit hard to write about, only because there is so much I want to say. Let me try.

For years now, I've been going to music festivals across the country. While we do have some great music festivals in St. Louis (Twangfest, PLAY:stl, etc), LouFest represents something different for our city, something that should have been going down in our great city for years now.

LouFest is our own indie rock/americana talent-filled dream, one that goes for the jugular with its first lineup.

Founder Brian Cohen has modeled LouFest after the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and that's smart. There will be no camping like Tennessee's Bonnaroo, or no stunning skyline like Chicago's Lollapalooza. Instead, LouFest, like the ACL Festival, will feature a wonderful park, our city's treasure, no doubt creating a fan-friendly atmosphere that will focus on the music being played.

In my mind, it sets up to be a great celebration of "good music." I don't want to sound like I'm coming from a high place, or that I know every good band out there... I don't. But, there is no pop act on the bill trying to sell tickets. There is no classic rock reunion. There is no Jay-Z. Heck, there isn't even a Kings of Leon (how fun could THAT have been? Ha.).

Instead, LouFest offers bands and artists like Broken Social Scene, She & Him, St. Louis' the Bottle Rockets, Built To Spill, Fruit Bats, Alejandro Escovedo and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.  I know what you might be thinking—that you don't know all these acts, or maybe just one or two. Do not let that stop you from going to LouFest! The beauty of a music festival is discovery, and I promise you that if you go in with an open mind, you're going to find something you love.

With ticket prices at $38 per day and $64 for a two-day pass (both options are still available), I would say it's more than worth your time to take a chance and see what you can find this weekend in Forest Park. And top it all off, rain is not in the forecast! Yes!!

So, what do you say? Let's celebrate music this weekend at LouFest. If you're planning on going, leave a comment below, or tweet me @jasongonulsen

LouFest artist videos to check out before this weekend: