Houston is perched on the precipice of another festival cycle -- those heady weeks of fine, if often rainy, weather that allows for comfortable outdoor gatherings all over the city. Here are the music festivals that will fill your (hopefully glorious) autumn weekends:

• The Pasadena Rodeo (oh, stop rolling your eyes) will run Oct. 2-10. The crowd here is pretty much what you expect: large belt buckles, cowboy hats, fried hair. The exclusively country lineup can be found on the rodeo's website. Headliners include The Lost Trailers, Johnny Lee, Todd Fritsch, Roger Creager, Randy Rogers and Jason Boland and the Stragglers. Tickets are $10-$12 each night. Pasadena Fairgrounds.

• The Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival is Oct. 9-11. The music is a mix of pretty good folk/Americana (The Gougers, Gurf Morlix, Adam Carroll), blues (I.J. Gosey, Mark May, Trudy Lynn) and party bands (Ezra Charles, the Fab 5, Cowboy Mouth). See the complete schedule here. $10; free for children 12 and under. Downtown Conroe.

• Ziegfest 2009 is at Sam Houston Race Park on Oct. 24. The all-day festival features headliners Cross Canadian Ragweed and Randy Rogers Band. Other performers include Reckless Kelly, Wade Bowen, Kevin Fowler, Whiskey Meyer, Josh Ward Band, Ryan Bingham, Bob Schneider, Hayes Carll and Mark McKinney. Country and beer. $16.

• The next Free Press Westheimer Block Party is coming up, but you wouldn't know it to look on the Free Press' website (come ON, guys). The dates are Nov. 14 and 15, a week after Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest for a reason. We'll let you know more when we know it.