All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

The good news is that many of us have a three day weekend ahead of us. The bad news -- it's shaping up to be a wet, soggy three day weekend. It looks as if Monday will be the best day.

Not to worry. After the jump we've gathered a whole bunch of stuff to do suitable for indoor and outdoor fun. Mix and match your favorites and build your own weekend.

Doing something that's not on the list? Post it in the comment section and share it with the rest of us.

And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend.

Electric City Couture
The Electric City Couture runway show -- featuring rising designers from the Capital Region and elsewhere -- is back at Proctors. Friday 8 pm - free

Saratoga 150, postponed
The "Family Night At The Spa" at SPAC -- to open the summer-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Saratoga Race Course -- has been postponed until June 1.

Dave Matthews Band
Saturday-Sunday: It's Dave Matthews Band weekend in Saratoga. DMB will be playing shows at SPAC Saturday and Sunday -- the opener for both nights is Galactic. Something to keep in mind even if you're not going to the shows -- they usually mean big crowds around town. 7 pm both nights - $36 and up

More Music

Friday: Pete Donnelly at Valentine's
From the Figgs. With: Hand Habits. 8 pm

Friday: The Grand Slambovians at Caffe Lena
Gandalf Murphy and co. 8 pm - $32

Friday: SPAC Battle of the Bands
Ten acts competing at the Spa Little Theater. Among the lineup: The Lucky Jukebox Brigade, and Jes Hudak. 7 pm - $20

Friday: Sgt. Dunbar at Elda's on Lark.
The Hobo Banned celebrates the release of another new EP. 10 pm

Friday-Sunday: The GottaGetGon at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds
A "friendly, informal folk festival" with Molly Durnin, Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys, Dave Gunning, and others. $15-$50

Saturday: Aaron Neville at MASS MoCA
Don't know much. But everybody plays the fool. 8 pm - $34 and up

Saturday: The Josh Roseman Party Horns concert at Proctors has been postponed.

Saturday: The Midnight Society at Red Square
Album release show for duo. With: Lucky Jukebox Brigade, Accents, Neversink. 7 pm - $7

Saturday: Ariana Gillis at Caffe Lena
Singer/songwriter. With: Ashley Sofia. 7 pm - $18

Sunday: Judy Kuhn at Helsinki Hudson.
Three-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn, fresh from a turn as Fosca in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Passion, performs as part of Helsinki Hudson's cabaret series. 7 pm

Theater

The Fantasticks
The Mac Hayden Theater in Chatham kicks off its 45th summer season with The Fantasticks, the world's longest running musical. Friday 8 pm, Saturday 4 pm & 8 pm, Sunday 2 pm & 7 pm - $28-$30, kids $12

Halfmoon Carnival
Carnival rides, a midway, and fair food at the Halfmoon Carnival & Relay for Life Fundraiser outside Halfmoon Town Hall on Friday. Friday 6-10 pm, Saturday and Sunday 1-10 pm - 20% of all ride sales benefit The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life

The Big Lawn Party
There's a lawn party on Sunday at the Saratoga Polo Fields with music, lawn games, a beer garden, and a barbecue. Noon-4 pm - $20 per car

USS Slater
This would be a good weekend to check out the USS Slater, the WWII destroyer escort turned floating history museum. The museum is open Saturday and Sunday, and will also be open on Monday for Memorial Day. 10 am-4 pm - $8, $7for seniors, $6 for 6-14 / under 5 free.

Parades
There are lots of Memorial Day Parades over the course of the weekend. Here are a few:

+ The Ballston Spa Memorial Day Parade is Saturday at 9 am, Milton Avenue to Front Street to Low Street.

+ The Lake George Memorial Day Parade is Saturday at 10 am. It runs along Beach Road and up Canada Street in Lake George Village.

+ Albany's Memorial Day Parade is Monday at 9:30 am. It starts at Partridge Street and Central Ave and continues east on Central and Washington to Hawk Street.

+ The Lansingburgh Memorial Day Parade is Monday at 11 am, 125th St and 5th Ave.

Film

A Place at the Table
The Saratoga Film Forum is screening , A Place at the Table Saturday at The Arts Center of Saratoga. The documentary follows families in Philadelphia, Colorado and Mississippi and examines the problem of child hunger in America. Saturday 7:30 pm - $7

Caesar Must Die
On Friday and Sunday the Saratoga Film Forum is screening Caesar Must Die, a "quasi-documentary with hardened criminals with links to organized crime, auditioning for roles in a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar." Friday and Sunday 7:30 pm at The Arts Center of Saratoga - $7 / $5 students

Blockbusters
At the multiplexes: The Hangover III opens this weekend. Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Great Gatbsby are still running. And you can still catch The Place Beyond the Pines at the Spectrum and Crossgrates.

Comics and social justice
Saturday: Alternative cartoonist Sabrina Jones will be at the Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs to talk about her comics and graphic novels that focus on the intersection of art, politics, and activism. Her latest books is The Race to Incarcerate. 7:30 pm - free

Chocolate desserts
A hands-on cooking class Saturday at Different Drummer's: All-Time Chocolate Desserts with Jesuit Paul Nugas. Making three chocolate desserts: special dark chocolate cake with fudgy chocolate ganache, ultimate cream cheese brownies, and chocolate mousse cake. 3 pm - $65

Earlier: A sampling of cooking classes, summer 2013

Road trip
A lot of people have three days off this weekend, and an extra day is always a good excuse for a little road trip. A ride out to Columbia County to check out the field sculptures at Art Omi, or to MASS MoCA and North Adams, or a shopping trip to Northampton or Great Barrington could be fun.

For the birds
The Berkshire Bird Paradise is open for the season. As long as you don't have any Tippi Hedren-like phobias, this place is interesting. There's clucking and squawking and colorful feathers. It's a fun diversion on a trip out to Grafton Lake.

Butterflies and lupines
The Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center is hosting Karner Blue butterfly walks Saturday and Sunday. Staff will offer guided walks of the Pine Bush Preserve to look for Karner Blues. And a Monday there's a walk to explore the wild blue lupine, important to the survival of the butterflies. Bring a camera, sturdy walking shoes and water. Saturday from 1-2:30 pm each day - $3 per person or $5 per family / pre-registration required

On Monday the Pine Bush Preserve hosts a Lupine Walk from 1p.m. to 2:30 p.m. $3 per person, $5 per family, under 12 free.

Beach time?
It's supposed to be wet and cool this weekend, but if the forecast is wrong, the beaches at Grafton Lake State Park and Moreau Lake State Park open this weekend.

Ice Cream
Moxie's in Wynantskill opened this week, and most of the other seasonal ice cream stands have opened for the season. Check out Moxie's vanilla tour. Ice cream can be a big decision, so check out the Tour de Soft Serve and the Tour de Hard Ice Cream before you make up your mind.

Farmers' markets outside
The outdoor season for farmers' markets are in swing in Troy (Saturday), Saratoga (Saturday), and Schenectady (Sunday).

Grilling
There should be enough good weather to fire up the grill sometime this weekend. Maybe you need to stop at Rolf's on your way home, or visit the farmers' markets this weekend. Or both.

Proctors, Live Nation and MopCo. advertise on AOA.