Autumn has arrived, time for a (Block) party.

While temperatures in Vegas are starting to cool a bit, the city’s festival schedule is following the opposite trajectory: warming up with one big music gathering after another through November.

And it all starts with the debut of A Big Beautiful Block Party on Friday and Saturday at the Plaza grounds.

The Block Party is an offshoot of the multi-genre music and arts festival Life is Beautiful, which debuted downtown in 2013 and was suspended this year. The Block Party features an eclectic lineup of electronic and funk-style acts in Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Jungle, Peggy Gou, Jamie xx, James Blake, Thundercat, Toro y Moi, BadBadNotGood, Neil Frances, LP Giobbi, Empress Of , John Talabot and Fifi.

The event runs from 5pm to 2am every day and promises no overlapping set times for non-stop music every night.

The Beautiful Block Party marks the first LiB-affiliated event with Rolling Stone and parent company Penske Media taking full ownership of the brand, after initially purchasing the company in February 2022.

“We wanted to put something on there that is fun and festive and can have an impact in this community, even if it’s a little different than what the large-scale Life is Beautiful has been in recent years, but move people and have something to offer. go out and enjoy downtown a little bit,” Rolling Stone CEO Gus Wenner told the RJ this year when announcing the fest.

“The block party concept was something we developed along the way,” he continued, “saying, ‘Hey, we can bring something really unique to the market this year, honoring and celebrating the community, while looking to the future long-term . larger-scale, full-fledged Life is Beautiful and bringing that back, which will probably happen from next year.’”

In the meantime, the Block Party is launching a packed festival calendar. Here’s an overview:

Reggae Rise Up, downtown Las Vegas event center, October 4-6

■ The low point: Prepare to be blown away with three days of good vibes when Vegas’ biggest annual reggae gathering returns. This celebration is the musical equivalent of opening a can of Raid on bad attitudes: be happy or else.

■ Expected Highlights: A bit of Stoopid’s mix of bad grammar and good times; Wiz Khalifa’s chill-backed rhymes; The emotional hip-hop of Atmosphere; Rebelution’s rock-informed reggae.

■ Random fact: At each show, reggae/dub sextet Stick Figure is joined on stage by rescued Australian shepherd Cocoa, who travels with the band – and occasionally barks at the audience.

Best Friends Forever, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, October 11-13

■ The low point: Break out the fainting couches for all the old-school emo and indie rock heads who will no doubt struggle to maintain consciousness amid the joyous delirium this new fest is sure to inspire. Featuring an impeccably curated collection of dozens of acts that rarely, if ever, perform in Vegas, this promises to be a truly unique addition to the Vegas festival circuit, which has exploded in recent years.

■ Expected Highlights: Emo is the forefather of Cap’n Jazz who reunite for their first show in seven years; the always over-the-top Jesus Lizard, who hasn’t played here since ’96, on tour in support of their new album, “Rack”; the Murder City Devils bringing the howling, curled-lipped rock ‘n’ roll; the gloriously noisy Unwound playing Vegas for the first time this century.

■ Random fact: The last time emo favorites Sunny Day Real Estate and The Dismemberment Plan performed locally was in 2000 at now-defunct venues – the former at the Sanctuary, the latter at Cafe Espresso Roma.

When We Were Young, Las Vegas Festival Grounds, October 19-20

■ The low point: We all know those sad emo kids always get wet-eyed, but expect nothing but tears of joy upon the return of When We Were Young in year three. (Sit down, emos. We’re just kidding. Sort of.) Their elation is understandable, thanks to a new twist this round: Nearly every band, except headliners Fall Out Boy and a few others, will play songs exclusively from one of their most beloved albums.

■ Expected Highlights: Scene titans My Chemical Romance delving into “The Black Parade”; the equally catchy and biting The Distillers performing “Coral Fang”; indie rockers Pretty Girls Make Graves perform “The New Romance”; post-hardcore favorites Thursday aired “Full Collapse.”

■ Random fact: Vegas’ own Escape the Fate will revisit their sophomore album “This War Is Ours,” which debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2008.

Our big concert, Desert Breeze Events Center, October 26

■ The low point: Once an annual hard rock highlight in Vegas, held at Sam Boyd Stadium with big names like Stone Temple Pilots, Rob Zombie, System of a Down and more, X107.5’s Our Big Concert is back as OBC Re-Imagined. What’s new? The party moves to the Desert Breeze Events Center. What not? The line-up remains impressively tight from top to bottom.

■ Expected Highlights: The red-hot Falling in Reverse headliner with hip-hop-tinged metalcore; rockers Awolnation blame their ADD; Vegas rapper Ekoh is getting bigger and bigger by the week, it seems; fellow locals The Nocturnal Affair are earning significant fame in their hometown.

■ Random fact: Falling in Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke, a Vegas native and onetime frontman of Escape the Fate, recently purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $9 million.

SEMA Fest, Las Vegas Convention Center, November 8

■The low point: Concerts are loud. Hot rods are loud. So why not combine the two into something really loud? Hence the arrival of SEMA Fest, in collaboration with the automotive aftermarket-oriented SEMA convention. In its second year, the festivities will expand from two days to one, moving from the Las Vegas Festival Grounds to the Convention Center grounds.

■ Expected Highlights: Rockers Cage the Elephant play here for the first time in support of the new album “Neon Pill”; ska/reggae punks Sublime performance with Jakob Nowell, son of the band’s late original singer, Bradley Nowell; the horn-blowing Fitz and the raging adrenal glands of the tantrums; the “Optima Unleashed” drift and stunt bike action.

■ Random fact: The first SEMA Show took place in 1967 in the basement of LA’s Dodger Stadium. The event moved to Vegas in 1984, where it has since become one of the city’s largest conventions.

Neon City Festival, downtown, November 22-24

■ The low point: New for 2024, this “festival without fences” will range from the Fremont East District to the Fremont Street Experience and the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, including the Arts District and The Strat. The first-of-its-kind all-ages music, arts and culinary event features local food and beverage vendors, art shows, fireworks and music from a variety of genres. And did we mention it’s free?

■ Expected Highlights: The great EDM of Alison Wonderland, the crushing dubstep of Seven Lions; The well-whiskey land of Russell Dickerson; Neon Trees’ Day-Glo new wave revisionism.

■ Random fact: Not one to miss a performance, Wonderland performed while nine months pregnant at Electric Daisy Carnival in 2023. That’s dedication.

Contact Jason Bracelin at [email protected] or 702-383-0476. Follow @jbracelin76 on Instagram.