All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Welcome to the weekend. Yep, already.

Time to make a plan. After the jump, we've put together a list of stuff with thought you might like to try - from movies and theater to a winter carnival to a pre-spring flower show.

Mix them, match them, share them with your friends.

If you've got a plan you don't see here, drop it in the comments for the rest of us to see.

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

New York in Bloom
Friday-Sunday: The annual New York in Bloom event returns to the State Museum. Blurbage:

It features floral arrangements created by floral designers, garden club members and flower enthusiasts. Other event highlights are the demonstrations on floral design and entertaining, children's activities and a flower market.

There are also classes. The event runs each day from 9:30 am-5 pm. It's $5 (cash only).

Weather Event: By the way, the exhibit of Lake Erie-area paintings by Charles E. Burchfield at the State Museum closes February 23.

More museums

Don't Iron While the Strike is Hot
Saturday: The Rensselaer County Historical Society will be commemorating the 150th anniversary of Kate Mullany's formation of the Collar Laundry Union in Troy, one of the first female labor unions in the country. Blurbage:

When she was just 23, Mullany led a successful strike of 300 women against the harsh working conditions and pitiful compensation she and other laundry workers suffered while they washed, bleached, starched, dried and ironed the collars that gave Troy the famous name The Collar City.

RCHS will be re-enacting the march Saturday morning in downtown Troy. starts at 11 am at 57 2nd Street

Butterflies
The indoor butterfly house is open this weekend at miSci.

Albany Institute
The Albany Institute of History and Art is holding gallery tours on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm and 3:30 pm.

Saratoga Beer Summit
Saturday: Saratoga Beer Week concludes with the Saratoga Beer Summit at the City Center. The event includes 150 beers from 80 breweries. Sessions are from 1-4 pm and 5-8 pm. $40 ahead / $50 at the door / designated drivers $10

Farm to Glass
Saturday: The Carey Center For Global Good is hosting a farm-to-glass workshop for brewers or people interested in brewing. This workshop will cover topics such as malt-grain growing, harvesting, malting, supply-chain planning and purchasing. Saturday 10 am to 2 pm - $20

Lake George Winter Carnival
It's the last weekend of the Lake George Winter Carnival. Events this weekend include car races on the ice, fireworks over the lake and a bonfire. Here's the schedule of events.

SPAC Winter Ball - A Russian Whiteout
Saturday: This year's SPAC Winter Ball, at The Hall of Springs in Saratoga Spa State Park, has a Russian theme, with a vodka tasting and snow cone cocktails. Saturday 8pm to midnight - $80

Theater

Sister Act
The touring company of Sister Act, the Broadway show based on the Whoopie Goldberg movie about a night club singer who hides out from the mob by living with nuns in a convent, is at Proctors. Friday through Sunday - $20-$80

Boeing Boeing
Albany Civic presents the comedy Boeing Boeing, a farce about how an improved, faster Boeing jet interferes with the romantic life of a swinging 60s bachelor involved with three stewardesses. Friday & Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3 pm - $15 / $10 students / government employees (with a valid ID) can get 2 tickets for $15

Witness for the Prosecution
Agatha Christie's classic courtroom mystery Witness for the Prosecution continues this weekend at Home Made Theater in Saratoga. Friday & Saturday at 8 pm - $23 & $29

Figaro
Curtain Call Theater presents Figaro, an adaptation of the sequel to The Barber of Seville. Friday & Saturday 8pm

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)
The Theater Institute at The Sage Colleges presents Sarah Ruhl's play In the Next Room, about the history of the vibrator and how it was used by doctors to treat "hysteria" in women. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 pm - $15 / $12 students and seniors

Comedy

Theatersports
The Mop & Bucket Company is back at Proctors Underground on Friday night with its TheaterSports competition -- where teams of improvisors compete based on audience suggestions. (Think Whose Line is it Anyway?) Friday at 8pm - $14 / $6 students and seniors.

Film

"I said I would go to the opera wit you, dat's awl."
This week's Movies & Mimosas classic at the Saratoga Bow Tie Cinema: Cher, Nicholas Cage and Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck. Saturday and Sunday 11 am - $5.50 movie, $2 mimosa

Martial arts weekend
The Madison is screening martial arts movies this weekend: The Karate Kid, Kung Fu Panda, Drunken Master, and The Last Dragon. various times

Music

Friday: Bobby Long at The Linda
Folksy and bluesy and British-y. With: Tor & the Fjords. 8 pm - $17

Friday: Holly Williams at Helsinki Hudson
Granddaughter of Hank Sr, daughter of Hank Jr. 9 pm - $15 ahead / $18 day of

Friday: Gospel Gala 2014 at The Palace
More than 15 choirs. 7 pm - free, seating is first come, first sit

Friday: Line of Swords at Proctors
Trombonist Josh Roseman. Part of the Party Horns series. 7:30 pm - $15

Saturday: Mike Doughty at The Linda
Doughty's "Question Jar Show." "Doughty picks audience questions and requests out of a jar--and his audience is wickedly good at coming up with extremely weird things to ask." Also: Apparently he's decided to play Soul Coughing songs again. With: Ashley Sofia. 8 pm - $22

Saturday: Surfer Blood at Nanola
One-time 'fork and NPR fave. A free show thanks to EQX. (Nanola, run be one of the people who formerly ran the Bayou in Albany, is in Malta.) 7 pm

Saturday: Aoife O'Donovan at Helsinki Hudson
Singer/songwriter, from Crooked Still, played at Tanglewood this past summer as part of Goat Rodeo with Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Thile. 8 pm - $20 ahead / $25 day of

Saturday: Thruway: A Sing Off at Proctors
Union College a cappella groups engage in a pitched battle to the death with the visiting groups. OK, maybe not the death. 7:30 pm - $15

Saturday: Future Rock at Red Square
Electronic rock. 10 pm - $12 ahead / $15 day of

Saturday: Alarms and Controls at The Low Beat
Discordant post punk. With: Poor Lilly, Kimono Dragons. 8 pm

Sunday: Freedy Johnston at Caffe Lena
Knows he's got a bad reputation. 7 pm - $18

Sunday: Kristian Bezuidenhout at EMPAC
"Called 'the finest living exponent of the fortepiano' (the Herald, UK), Kristian Bezuidenhout is best known for bringing a new dimension to the interpretation of Mozart's piano music." 4 pm - $18

Sunday: Noam Pikelny & Friends at Helsinki Hudson
Bluegrass banjo, a member of the Punch Brothers. Featuring Bryan Sutton, Luke Bulla, Barry Bales & Jesse Cobb. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $20

Sunday: The Band of Horses show at The Egg is sold out.

Sunday: The Wood Brothers show at The Egg is sold out.

A Night of Surrealist Games
Saturday: Emcee Roger Clark Miller (Mission of Burma, Alloy Orchestra) will be at MASS MoCA leading "A Night of Surrealist Games," based on "a corpus of mind-bending games" created by French surrealist philosophers. Saturday 8 pm - $12 ahead / $16 day of / $10 students

Lark St. Charity Pub Quiz and Crawl
The Albany Society for the Advancement of Philanthropy -- the group behind the Santa Speedo Sprint -- is hosting a charity pub crawl and quiz on Saturday afternoon. The day starts at Cafe 217 with a beer breakfast. Then you can register at Lionheart and Lark Tavern starting at noon. The crawl goes from 1-6 pm and ends at LAX with prizes for the winners. Proceeds go to the Huntington's Disease Society of America and to Historic Cherry Hill. $5 per person - teams of 2 to 10 are allowed

Hockey
The Albany Devils are at at home at the TU Center on Saturday (5 pm) and Sunday (3 pm).

Ice skating

Empire State Plaza
The ice skating rink on the ESP has a very high fun:cost ratio. It's open all weekend from 11 am to 8 pm, weather permitting -- be sure to check before heading out. free to skate, skate rental is $4 adults / $3 kids / free on Friday

Schodack Island State Park
Every Friday night you can ice skate under the lights in Schodack Island State Park. Weather permitting, check before you go. 5 pm to 8 pm - free, skate rentals are available for $2

Farmers' markets
Indoor markets are open in Troy (Saturday at the Atrium), Saratoga (Saturday at the Lincoln Baths in Spa State Park), Schenectady (Sunday at Proctors), and the Spa City Farmers Market -- at the Lincoln Baths in Saratoga Springs (Sunday at the Lincoln Baths).

The Mop & Bucket Company, Albany Institute, and miSci advertise on AOA.

photo courtesy of New York State Museum