Good morning, Cookeville.

The highs are back in the low 90s, and Saturday left gold and purple on the roads around campus. These three days are the quiet part. Use them to pick a Labor Day weekend.

In today's Cookeville Scoop:

Let's get into it!

Get a Muddy Roots weekend pass while will call is still the easy version. The festival runs Friday through Sunday at Junebug Boogie Ranch, 115 Waterloo Road. Online weekend tickets are $240, kids 6 and under are free, and the rest of the price grid is in the feature below. Buy tickets.

Choose Friday's 7:30 plan before you stack two downtown nights. The Magic of Motown is Friday at the Cookeville Performing Arts Center, 10 E Broad Street. The show is billed as more than two hours of Motown hits, with choreography and costumes. A face-value price is not posted on the official listing, so use the ticket page or call 931-528-1313. Find tickets.

If a creek day still sounds better than a screen, book Waterloo. Day passes are listed Monday through Wednesday from 10 AM to 7 PM at 145 Virgil Murphy Circle. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4-13. Wear shoes, and leave the glass at home. Reserve a day pass.

The Slice Pizza and Games still has scratch-made dough and sauce working in its favor, and today is the last day of the summer party-pack math. Mention the offer at the register for 20% off Party Pack #1 or #2. It cannot be combined with other discounts, and the visit has to happen today. Open 11 AM to 9 PM at 408 W Jackson Street, Suite C. See the current specials.

Tuesday is the arcade half of the same building. Most games are 50% off all day, with the crane and merchandise games left at regular price. If you already used the pizza packs, this is the leftover reason to go. See the arcade note.

The Putnam Room makes Wednesday a little more amber. Whiskey, bourbon, and Scotch are half off from 5 to 9 PM at 319 E Spring Street. Weekday happy hour is also listed from 3 to 5 PM if you want the earlier window. See Whiskey Wednesday.

Some Labor Day weekends here are a lake bag and a leftover burger. This one can start in a field off Waterloo Road.

Muddy Roots Music Festival is back Friday through Sunday at Junebug Boogie Ranch, 115 Waterloo Road. It has been Cookeville's DIY answer to cleaner festival circuits since 2010. Punk, doom, outlaw country, rockabilly, blues, and back-porch folk share the same stages because the organizers never picked a lane. The official page calls it the biggest little D.I.Y. fest in Tennessee.

The posted math is clearer than most festival pages. A weekend pass is $240 online and $250 at the gate. Saturday and Sunday is $225 at the gate. Sunday only is $125. Kids 6 and under get in free. Ages 7 to 17 are $50 for the weekend, sold only at the gate. Online tickets are will call, so bring a photo ID and your order number. The pass includes camping and hot showers, and you can come and go.

If you want Thursday too, the pre-party is your weekend ticket plus $40 at the gate, with gates at 2 PM September 3.

The named sets are not a rumor. Shannon and the Clams and Frankie and the Witch Fingers are on Friday. Municipal Waste and Circle Jerks are on the Saturday big tent. Mac Sabbath and Monolord close Sunday. The official site lists 71-plus bands on three stages, which is enough music to make a plan and then wander off it.

This is not a folding-chair night at Dogwood Park. Pack like you are staying. If you have been waiting for Cookeville's other Labor Day weekend, this is the one! Buy through the official site before Friday.

Art Quest is Monday from 10:15 to 11:30 AM at Putnam County Library, 50 E Broad Street. Certified visual arts teacher Annette Romero leads weekly hands-on projects for ages 12 to adult. It is free, and no registration is required. See the Cookeville library listing.

Pages & Paws is Tuesday from 10 to 11 AM at the same library. Therapy dogs Buddy, Skye, and Tibbi are back with a story and a surprise for ages 3 to 7. Free, and built for a short morning. See Pages & Paws.

Roasted Trivia is Tuesday from 7 to 9 PM at 1068 E 10th Street, Suite F. Brook Jolley hosts, it is free to play, and it is 21+ only. See Trivia Tuesday.

September First Friday is Friday from 5 to 8 PM on Cookeville's Historic West Side. Art Round Tennessee is setting a welcome booth and live music by Larry Newgent at Easy Tiger Coffee Roasters, with artists in rotating shops. All ages, $5 suggested donation. See First Friday.

Bryan Symphony Orchestra plays Sunday at 7 PM at Dogwood Performance Pavilion, 43 N Walnut Avenue. It is free, and the city lists regional professionals, including Tennessee Tech faculty and select students. Bring a chair if you want the lawn. See the concert listing.

Tennessee Tech opened the new Tucker Stadium by beating No. 23/22 Monmouth 38-14.

The next home game is Samford on September 12. I am not publishing a Chattanooga kickoff time from a ticket aggregator. Read Tech's recap.

If this issue gave you a Labor Day weekend, forward it to the friend who still thinks the only plan is a lake day. Know about a local opening, a schedule change, or a restaurant update we should verify next week? Reply and send the source.

Thanks for reading after a loud Saturday. I hope you get a cooler evening by Sunday, and a ticket that is actually in your name! 🧡

-- Travis