Arkansauce / Courtesy

You hear that sound? Of course you don’t. Fayetteville Roots Festival is sneaking up on you like a ninja.

This year’s festival is now less than a month away, set for Aug. 21-25 at locations in and around Fayetteville, and whether or not you’re planning to see the mainstage acts this year, there are always plenty of opportunities to check out some great music outside of the Fayetteville Town Center while the festival is in town.

Tickets to the late-night stages at George’s Majestic Lounge, for example, featuring performances by excellent local (and local-ish) bluegrass bands Arkansauce and Big Smith are still available at the moment. Both bands are doing a two-night run during the festival on Friday & Saturday night, Aug. 23 and 24. Tickets are $25-27 at stubs.net, and they are highly likely to sell out. Just sayin’.

In addition, George’s is also hosting a free show with The Mighty Pines on Thursday, Aug. 22 after the opening night party at Pratt Place Inn, and a happy hour show on Friday featuring Jesse Dean & Co at 6 p.m.

Over at Kingfish, there will be free music late into the evening on the patio this year on Friday and Saturday nights (Aug. 23-24). Friday night’s lineup features an all-star lineup of performances by Kalyn Fay, Cindy Woolf, Sarah Hughes, and Dianne Rudolph, backed by a house band of Chooch, Isayah Warford, and Dave Gesualdo. Then on Saturday, a house band of Isayah Warford, Dave Gesualdo, and Johnny Arrendondo will back performances by Chooch, Adam Cox, Ashton Barbaree, Jeff Kearney, and Nick Caffery. We’ve heard Bob Dylan and John Prine tributes are also part of the set at Kingfish on Saturday night.

Maxine’s Tap Room has a great lineup as well this year, with performances scheduled with local country act Dylan Earl on Friday night, Austin-based band The Deer on Saturday, a Sunday brunch show with Skinny Gypsies at noon on Sunday, followed by a Neil Young Tribute at 2:30 p.m., Noah Richmond’s Little Monster at 5 p.m., and Fayetteville Family Band Jam Session at 7:30 p.m. All of the entertainment at Maxine’s is free to attend.

There are still tickets available to several Fayetteville Roots Festival events, including the Sunday night mainstage with Her Crooked Heart, Eliza Gilkyson, Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band, Los Texmaniacs, and Rising Appalachia, the Saturday night Roots, Food & Spirits event featuring music by Darrell Scott, The Travelin’ McCourys, and Bonnie Paine (of Elephant Revival), and several other events.

For more info, visit therootsfest.org.