All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Get out and enjoy your mornings this weekend. The afternoons and evenings look like they'll be kind of wet.

This week's list of stuff to do is packed full of indoor and outdoor possibilities. If you've got other ideas, we'd love to hear them.

And whatever your plans are, have a great weekend!

Altamont Fair
TheAltamont Fair -- the county fair for Albany, Schenectady, and Greene counties -- is underway. Today through Sunday they've got rides, music, fair food, animals, exhibits and all the other fun things you find at a fair. Tickets are $15, which includes admission, parking, and unlimited rides.

Art Night Merchant Mash-Up
Tonight is Art Night in Schenectady and Electric City merchants and restaurants are pairing up for what they call a Merchant Mash-Up. Restaurants will give out samples in stores that are hosting art and performances. Here's the mash-up list.

Boy, Boy, Crazy Boy
The touring production of West Side Story continues at Proctors this weekend. Tickets start at $20.

More Theater
+ Ten Cents a Dance, a new musical featuring songs from Rodgers and Hart, continues at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was created by the director of the recent minimalist productions of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company. Here's this week's NYT review.

+ Also at Williamstown: You Better Sit Down: tales from my parents' divorce, "an alternately heartbreaking and hilarious look" at divorce, based on interviews from the cast and their own parents.

+ The Berkshire Theater Festival presents Finian's Rainbow, a production of the festival's "pre-professional" company, and Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment this week.

+ Shakespeare and Company in Lenox continues its schedule of Shakespeare (including As You Like It) and non-Shakespeare (including Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins).

+ The impressive local production of Rent finishes its run at Schenectady Light Opera, with shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday. $18 and up

+ Tonight and Saturday Our Own Productions presents the musical Alter Boyz in Scotia's Freedom Park. Free. (Bring your own chair or blanket).

+ Wine Lovers: The Wine Tasting Musical continues at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga through Sunday. $59

Music
+ Tonight: OUTPOST1 at Fuze Box
Joe Nice, Deep Children, Party with Tina, Dwell. 10 pm - $5

+ Tonight: Pillowhead at Valentine's. With The 7th Squeeze, The Middle Eight. 9 pm

+ Tonight: Dub is a Weapon at Helsinki Hudson. Reggae, man. 9 pm - $15

+ Tonight: Secret Release, Bellflower, Benjamin McGrath at Hudson River Coffee House. 8 pm

+Tonight: Electric cellist Gideon Freudmann plays what he calls cellobop at Carmen's Cafe in Troy. 6:30. Free

+ Saturday: Film Night at Tanglewood. John Williams conducting, Morgan Freeman narrating. 8:30 pm - $21 and up

+Saturday: Chris Smither at Helsinki Hudson. Folk, poetry, the blues. 9 pm - $25

+ Saturday:Rustic Overtones at Putnam Den. 9 pm - $10

+ Saturday: Mary Fahl at Caffe Lena. With Gregory Douglas. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $20 at the door

The Kings of Leon/Band of Horses show scheduled for Saturday at SPAC was canceled.

Scooter Pie at Midnight
Scooter Pie's Rock 'N Roll Burlesque show is back at Valentine's on Saturday night/ Sunday morning at Midnight.

Swing Dancing
Sonny and Perley's Jive Five headline the Saratoga Savoy Diamond Dance at the Saratoga Music Hall (top floor of City Hall). The monthly swing dance is the biggest one in the Northeast. 7:30 $15 includes music, dancing, and ice cream. This month there's a lindy class at 6:30 for an extra $10.

Food Swap
All Good Bakers is hosting a food swap this Sunday at 4. Bring something delicious you made and trade it for something delicious someone else made.

German Summerfest
Sunday from 1 PM - 7 PM, Schuetzenpark, the last of the old outdoor Biergartens in the Capital District, hosts its Summerfest. German food, beer available for purchase. Music, arts and kids activities. $3 per adult, under 12 free

A day at the races
Grab your hat and a few extra dollars and spend an afternoon at the Saratoga Racecourse. If you win, celebrate with a Sloppy Track Shake from Shake Shack. If you lose, console yourself with a Sloppy Track Shake from Shake Shack.

Saratoga Arts Fest
The National Museum of Dance is hosting the 2nd annual Saratoga Arts Fest, a juried fine art exhibit featuring work from over 100 artists from across the U.S. And Canada. Paintings, photography, drawings, prints, sculptures, mixed media, jewelry, ceramics, fiber, metal and glass pieces will be displayed.

Cocktails, old school
If you're hanging out in Saratoga this weekend, stop in for a drink at The Adelphi. Come for the atmosphere, stay for a daiquiri.

Take a swim
Between rainstorms you might be able to log a little pool time this weekend. Here's a list of local beaches or pools.

Mirette's Circus
Friday and Saturday: Pittsburgh's Zany Umbrella Circus and Germany's Oko Sokolo Company team up in the courtyard at Mass MoCA to present a circus performance inspired by Mirette on the Highwire. Shows include puppetry, circus, music and storytelling. 3 & 5 PM each day $12 adults / $8 kids

Museums
+ Union College's pulp fiction exhibit continues at Mandeville Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

+ There are a few weeks left to take advantage of The Albany Institute of History and Art's Free Friday and Half Price Saturday admissions for the summer. You could chill with the mummies or check out new work by artists of the Hudson-Mohawk region.

+ Pissarro's People, portraits by impressionist Camille Pissarro, is the big exhibit this summer at The Clark, but while you're there, be sure and check out Spaces: Photographs by Candida Hofer and Thomas Struth. The large scale photographs kind of bent our minds recently. The photos examine how people interact with spaces, history and the passage of time.

+ The Hyde Collection's big summer exhibit, New York New York: The 20th Century, includes over 60 works of art that depict New York City and human interaction with it.

Urban exploration show
Wander over to The Albany Barn's Stage One on Sunday from 9-1 and you can see some great urban exploration photos by Sebastien Barre, Paul Gallo and Darren Ketchum.

Staycation
Couldn't get away this summer? Enjoy some staycation time in the Capital Region. Here are a few good ideas.

Learn to be a blacksmith
Now, when somebody yells "Is there a blacksmith in the house," you can come to the rescue. Mabee Farm Historic Site in Rotterdam is hosting a Beginning Blacksmith class this weekend. Classes are Saturday and Sunday and teach all kinds of forging techniques. When it's over you'll know how to make nails and S hooks. Class sizes are small and theres a $150.00 (it includes materials).

Farmers' markets
Local farmers' markets are overflowing with seasonal goodness right now. Here are a few you can visit this weekend:
Saturday: Troy, Saratoga, Delmar. Sunday: Schenectady and the new Malta Drive-in Market.

Factory Tours
Take a trip to Burlington, Vermont and stop along the way to see how ice cream, teddy bears, and beer are made.

More road trips
Take a shopping trip to Northampton or spend 12 hours in Ulster County, Bennington, Vermont, Columbia County Schoharie County .

Ice Cream!
Head over to The Snowman for a Boston Milkshake, take the AOA Ice Cream Tour or make a stop on Daniel's Tour de Soft Serve. Heck, it's summertime -- make two stops.

Brunch
Relax with a nice cold mimosa or Bloody Mary over brunch (one of our current favs is The Iron Gate on Washington Ave in Albany. Get a table outside if you can) or enjoy a great diner breakfast.